A Whole New World
by JesterLegacy
Summary: "I'm just an average guy with no particular talent. However, one day, I had to bid farewell to my normal life, to my world." A Pokémon Story with the same universe, but an entirely different situation. What will happen when you discover that you are in a world different from yours?
1. The Beginning

Hello! I've been wanting to write a Pokémon fanfic with a more serious and darker setting while keeping the 'fantasy' feel of it. Hence, I decided to give it a shot by writing this. Hope you'll enjoy reading it! :D

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon series**

It was a hot Summer day, and the sun was shining brightly. So bright that it hurt my eyes when I stared through the window.

I didn't want to go out like usual. Well, it's not like I go out often anyway. Staying indoor is the best for me. For some reason, I really loved to stay in my room. There, I'm free of any worries, I feel at ease. I spent my days by sitting in front of the computer, playing online games, browsing, listening to music and such. I don't need anything luxurious. All I want is a peaceful day in my room. I don't find the outside world interesting, and I don't understand why people like to go hang out with their friends when they have the time. I only go outside when it is necessary. What's so fun about the outside world?

"Big brother! Let's go to the newly opened mall today!" My sister barged in to my room without me noticing.

I turned over to her. Still sitting on my chair, I took my headphone off, "Why didn't you knock first?"

"I did! But you didn't respond," She said.

Really?

"Stop playing those games, it's bad for you! Rather, let's go out!" She said that with a cheerful smile.

My little sister was the complete opposite of me. She loved to go outside and she was really active. She had good grades, whether in academics or sports. She was also quite popular in her school. Everyone always praised her. Her crimson colored "almost" shoulder'length hair, her bright yellow eyes, short figure, everything. She was 2 years younger than me, which makes her 14 years old. She often asked to me go out with her during the holidays, though I often rejected her. I just don't see the point of going out.

"What's the point?" I put my headphone back on and turned away from her, returning to my game.

I could hear her voice telling me to stop playing, but I ignored her.

Then, I suddenly couldn't hear any voices coming out from my headphone. It had been unplugged.

I took it the headphone off and turned around to her once again, a bit frustrated.

"What did you do that for!?" I put on an annoyed expression.

"Because big brother kept on playing those games and ignoring me!" She shouted back.

"...Whatever, I won't be going outside today. It's too hot." I turned away from her.

"You always have excuses! Last time you said it was too cold!" She complained.

Ignoring her, I plugged my headphone back on to the computer.

"W-Why won't you go out with me...You used to-" She brought up the past, but I cut her short.

"People change," I said that sternly.

I could sense that she was about to tear up after hearing that, but I'm too busy to turn around. Still, I wouldn't be able to do anything even if I could.

"I hate you, big brother!" She then ran off, but still closed the door to my room properly without smashing it.

I sighed, "I couldn't even remember when did I turn out to be like this..."

I kept on staring into the screen for a couple of hours until it's around dinnertime.

Unplugging my headphone, I stood up, did a bit of stretching and went downstairs.

The food was on the table, arranged neatly. Other than a bowl of white rice, there were miso-soup, fish, and vegetables.

All the family members, including my little sister, were already sitting on the chairs.

I sat down beside my little sister, and grabbed the pair of chopsticks. The dinner went on quietly without any significant conversation. Well, usually it differs not much from this anyway.

After dinner, I stood up and grabbed my dishes while turning towards the sink to wash them. My little sister followed after me, and she seemed a bit down. It's probably from earlier.

I proceeded to wash the dishes while she put hers beside the sink.

"Um, big brother," She called out to me.

"What?" I answered her while doing the dishes, without looking at her.

She was quiet for a few seconds, she seemed to be deciding on what to say, "I-I'm sorry for earlier...I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine," I cut her sentence again.

I could hear light footsteps after that, she seemed to be planning to go back to her room.

"Hey," I called her while still doing the dishes, "Do you want to go outside tomorrow?"

"Eh?" I could guess that she had a surprised expression on her face.

"I'm fine about going out for tomorrow," I put the dishes in their proper places.

"R-Really?" She nodded frantically, "Yes! Let's go out tomorrow!"

I just felt that I should at least grant that little wish of hers. I had no idea that decision of mine would change my entire life...

,

The next day, during breakfast, my little sister started saying that we will be going out that day.

"Hiro? Going out?" My mom looked shocked to hear her son going out of the house with his little sister, "What happened? Usually, you just ignored Rei, didn't you?"

"I just thought that going out might be nice every once in a while. Plus, I need a new mouse for my computer," I said while putting rice inside my mouth.

"Make sure to take care of Rei, okay?" Mom said while smiling a bit.

I kept silent while having my breakfast. Even though she didn't talk much during the breakfast, she looked happy nonetheless.

During the noon, I was prepared to go out, so I went to tell Rei.

I knocked the door to her room, "Hey, are you done?"

I could hear she told me to wait a minute. After around 15 minutes, she opened the door.

She wore her casual clothes, a red colored shirt, skirt and white knee-high socks.

"Let's go then," I walked towards the stairs.

,

The mall was not far from our house. We could reach there in 10 minutes, walking.

While we were on our way, my sister suddenly grabbed my arm.

"...What are you doing?" I kept on walking.

"Nothing, hehe," She tighten her hold while smiling.

I ignored her and kept on walking. Maybe it's because of the weather, I didn't see any people walking on the streets.

After 5 minutes of walking, I could feel a slight tremor.

"_What's this? Earthquake?"_ I thought to myself. Surely, I didn't think that I'd be so lucky to encounter these things during my first time going outside after a while.

The tremor got stronger and stronger. Before I realized, I was having trouble standing firmly. I started to lose my balance and fell onto the ground.

"What the-" I couldn't stand up.

"B-Big brother, what's going on?" My little sister was beside me, still grabbing my arm.

"I...Have no idea." I observed our surroundings even among the intense vibration. The strange thing was that nothing seemed to be getting damaged, not even one bit. Heck, they didn't even look like they were shaking.

The tremor got even stronger, and before I knew it, I was thrown into a pitch-black world. I didn't even remember what had happened. Did I close my eyes?

,

After a while, I could feel my eyes opening slowly.

"Uhh..." I raised up, looks like I had collapsed.

I found Rei beside me, unconscious. When I tried to wake her up, I realized something.

I turned my head around, observing our surroundings. However, I couldn't recognize where we are.

It was a place filled with grasses and several trees in the distance. There was a small pathway that seemed to lead somewhere.

"Where...Are we?" I asked myself a question that couldn't be answered.

I tried to wake Rei up, but she wouldn't respond. Then, I sensed something behind me. I turned around, and found a purple colored creature. Its red eyes were aimed towards me. It had large teeth and long whiskers. It resembled a...Mouse?

It jumped towards me. I was frightened by its sudden move, so I brushed my hand away, hitting it in the process.

The creature fell, but it got back up in no time. It screeched, preparing to attack once again. Then, I saw 4 more. There were 4 more of them behind that creature.

Considering the fact that it resembled a mouse, the size is certainly different. Furthermore, those teeth seems to be able to chew through anything. I was afraid, I wanted to run away. However, I couldn't just leave my little sister behind. I'm so pathetic. I couldn't even do anything against a few , I didn't even know if they can be considered as mice.

All of them were glaring at me. I could only look at them. Just when they seemed ready to leap forward, though, a kind roar can be heard.

That roar sent the 'mice' to flee, leaving me and my little sister alone. I was relieved. But, I still couldn't grasp the situation that we were in. Where were we? How did we get here? What exactly had happened?

Those thoughts vanished when a figure seemed to have descended on the grasses.

The figure looked like a...Dragon? Dinosaur?

It opened its mouth, and flames began appearing from there. The flames engulfed one of the mice that was left behind, burning it. I couldn't really describe the state it was in.

"We could try having this one," A voice can be heard. There was another figure on the mid-sized creature.

The figure turned towards me, and looked like he said something to the 'dragon'. Then, it flew and landed in front of us.

"What are you doing here? Taking a nap? It's quite dangerous here without any sort of protection, you know?" The figure said. She was a girl. A girl that seemed to be around my age. Her scarlet hair, tied in a ponytail with her also scarlet eyes looked matching with the beast that she was riding on. However, I was in a state where I didn't pay any attention to those things. I was stunned at what was before me.

Still bewildered, I opened my mouth, "W-Where is this?"

The girl looked a bit confused, then she answered," This? This is route 1."

"Route 1?" I was confused even more.

Maybe I shouldn't have gone out, after all...However, it was too late.

* * *

I hope that you enjoyed reading it! Reviews are highly appreciated. In fact, I need your reviews to know your opinions on this story, so I can improve it in future chapters. So, please leave a review! :)


	2. The Struggle and Resolve

The second chapter is here! I tried to clear things up regarding the world in this chapter. Please read and leave a review! :D

* * *

I was stunned by the events that had happened. In the middle of nowhere, I am with my unconscious little sister, and before me was a giant beast that resembled a dragon with a flaming tail.

"Route...1?" I repeated the name of the place that the girl had told me.

"Yep," She nodded, "You've been repeating that for a while now, what's wrong?"

"Route...1...Where is that?" I still couldn't manage to comprehend our situation clearly.

The girl with the scarlet hair looked confused, "What do you mean by that?"

I meant exactly what I said, "I-I have never heard of this place before...Which part of the country are we?"

"Huh?" She looked even more disoriented, "O-Oh, are you from another region?"

"Another...Region?" confusion still filled my mind, "What...Do you mean by that?"

"...Are you half-asleep or something?" The girl got down from the creature that she rode on.

"I...You said region earlier. So, which region is this?" I pursued information.

"Here? We are at the Kanto region," She answered.

"Kanto?" I repeated the word.

The girl nodded and then continued, "Yes. There are also other regions, such as Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and the others."

I have never heard of those names in the country before. Are we in another country? No, we were walking to the mall earlier...Besides, I don't think there are creatures like those mice and the one standing before me in any parts of the world. If they are really inhabitants in the other countries, I would have known them with their fantasy appearance.

"This...Is not my world," That is my conclusion. We are not in the world we were before, we are in a completely different world.

The girl seemed to be garbed in confusion, "Seriously, I don't understand what are you talking about."

"This is not our world...Did you call us here through a special method? Like, magic?" I asked a question that is absolutely dumb.

The girl frowned, "Huh? Magic? Call you here?"

Of course. She couldn't be the one to do that. If she were to one to call me here, she would have greeted us and explained everything. Like those that you would see in manga and RPGs. From the way she speaks, she probably doesn't know anything.

I felt like a helpless person.

She looked behind me, "Hm? Is that your girlfriend?"

"Eh?" I didn't know how to respond to her sudden statement.

"She's quite the cute girl...Taking a nap together?" She grinned.

I couldn't help but thinking that she was a wooden-headed person. A normal person wouldn't say that all of a sudden after meeting a person that had asked her questions as if he was the main character of a classic RPG.

"N-No, she is my little sister..." I answered her anyway.

"Ooh..." She nodded slightly a few times.

I proceeded, "She has been unconscious since we arrived here...Though I can-"

"WHAT!? HER LIFE IS IN DANGER!?" She shouted out of nowhere, "You came here in search of a way to cure your little sister? How noble of you!" She praised me for no reason.

"No!" I shouted back, "I can still feel her heartbeat, so she is definitely alive!"

"Eh? Oh...So that's the case, haha, sorry." She smiled.

Seriously, what is wrong with this girl? I even started to think that she is abnormal.

"Still, what caused her to be unconscious?" She asked.

I shook my head, "I don't know...I was unconscious before too...When I woke up, We are here."

"Hmm...Why don't you come to my place? It might not be a good idea to stay here for too long as you don't have any Pokémon."

I heard an unfamiliar phrase earlier, but I decided not to ask. I simply nodded. She is probably true. Staying here is definitely not a good idea. Rei is unconscious, and I don't have the strength to protect her if those creatures decided show up again. Furthermore, maybe I can ask people about this world, how we got here, and of course, how to get out of here.

She rode on the flaming lizard, "Then, hope on."

I carried Rei to the back of the creature, and sat on its back, behind the girl. Rei was between us, and I made sure to hold her tightly.

After a few light flaps of its wings, the creature leapt into the air, and flapped its wings in a rhythm. It flied.

I would be lying I said I was not frightened. It's my first time riding on a flying beast with a flaming tail. But still, I had to maintain my balance and grab onto Rei if I don't want to fall down and bide farewell to my life.

It was a short flight as it only took approximately 3 minutes. We landed on a simple little town. The buildings here is a bit more simple and humble, but the style doesn't differ much from those from our world. They just looked more...Generic.

We got down from the flaming lizard. I carried Rei on my back. The girl then took out a round object covered with the color of red and white, with a button on the middle of it. She held the ball-like object with the button pointed at the creature. Then, somekind of 'red light' was shot, covering the beast, and returned to the ball. The flaming lizard was gone.

"What did...You do?" I asked after witnessing an unbelievable scene.

"I returned Flamby to the Pokéball," She then pressed the button on the ball, which caused the ball to shrunk in size. It is now small enough to fit in a pocket.

Such technology...Now I'm sure that we are certainy not in our world.

"Flamby?" I was confused at the weird name, "Is that the lizard's species?"

The girl put the ball on ther belt clip, "Eh? Of course not. That's the name I give to my Charizard."

"_Charizard," _I assume that is the 'species' of the creature, "_But...Flamby? She actually gave that name to the creature that looked so ferocious?"_

I ignored the stupidity of the nickname and followed her into a house that seemed to hers.

When we were inside, she took off her white-colored soft jacket with black lines on the hoodie part of it, leaving her with a black colored shirt. She wore a light blue skirt with a pair of black tights.

"You live alone?" I asked while walking near the sofa to put Rei down.

"Yeah. My parents aren't here anymore." She said casually.

Judging from her tone, her parents must be somewhere faraway, probably working or something.

I asked, "Where are they?"

She turned around, facing me, and said, "They are...Dead."

I was taken aback a bit by her sentence. But...

"...How did it happen?" I asked something that I knew shouldn't be asked.

A blank look was in her eyes, "They were killed...By Pokémon."

It's that word again.

"_Pok_émon..." I presume that is the term used to call those monsters.

"Sorry, but could you tell me more about those creatures?" I questioned.

She stared at me for a brief moment, "...You don't seem to understand anything, huh...Well, sit down."

Just when I was about to sit down, Rei showed a sign that she was about to wake up. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

"B-Big brother?" She finally regained consciousness.

I felt relief. Though I'm sure that I didn't show that on my face.

"You're awake?" I sat down beside her.

"Where...Are we?" She raised up, looking around at her surroundings.

"Her house," I pointed at the girl with the scarlet ponytail hair tied with a black ribbon.

"Hi there," She greeted Rei with a bright smile.

,

"So...You are from another world?" She said after I told her that we came from a different world.

"I-I think so..." I said.

"THAT IS AWESOME!" Her eyes shone.

"Eh?" Both I and Rei synchronized in responding.

" I mean, doesn't this look like a scene from a movie or something? That is so cool!" She said those words energetically.

"I-I guess so, but..." I scratched my head.

"_She believed us that easily?"_ Thought myself.

"That sure explained on why you didn't know anything," She leaned to the sofa, "I'll tell you the things about this world, then."

I wanted to ask her how to get out of here, but I guess listening to her will not hurt. Though, I wouldn't want to stay at this place... A place filled with creatures that can kill us. There are ferocious mice, a fire-breathing 'dragon', and who knows what kind of other creatures there might be. I managed to collect a bit of my calmness because I was still grasping on the possibility that there might be a way to get out of here. Earlier, when we had just arrived at this town, I saw a building that is similar to a laboratory. The technology here must be pretty sophisticated. The ball the girl owned proved that. Therefore, the people inside that laboratory should know a way to get out of this world.

"The region that we are in currently is Kanto. As I have mentioned earlier, there are also other regions, but I won't explain them yet as I have never been to the other regions before. In this world, there are creatures known as Pokémon. There are hundreds or maybe even thousands of Pokémon. They are used to do a lot of things, whether helping us humans, as pets, or even to battle," She explained.

"Battle?" I was a bit curious about that one.

She continued, "Yes. Here, Pokémon Battles are carried out quite often. Of course, in those battles, the Pokémon will not be killed. There are certain systems in which I will explain later if you are interested. However, there are also people that use Pokémon to do malicious acts..."

At that point, her tone seemed a bit different, but she returned to her usual cheerful tone shortly after.

"Now, a lot of Pokémon are not really aggresive or hostile unless provoked, though there are those that will strike without mercy when you are near them. Therefore, it is certainly not safe to go out without having some sort of 'guards', in this case, Pokémon. The people that train Pokémon and use them for battles are called Pokémon Trainers," She continued her description about that world.

"Why are there Pokémon Trainers?" I asked again.

"There are several reasons on why people decide to become a Pokémon Trainer. There are people that simply love to battle, people that aim for the reward, to become the strongest, the Pokémon Champion," She anwered, "Well, that's pretty much the gist of how this world is."

"But, there are still plenty of things that I don't understand..." I said.

"If you want to know more, I know just the person that can explain. I skipped the technical explanations as I don't really understand them myself," She then stood up, "Follow me."

I followed her, and Rei was behind me. She was quiet this entire time. Of course I knew that she was shocked from this sudden incident like I am. I'm still anxious, I'm still worried whether we can get out of here or not.

After a little walk, we reached the laboratory that I saw when we had just arrived here. On the way, I also spotted a board that says, "Pallet Town".

We went inside the laboratory. As expected, there were several people inside that wore glasses and a white coat. They are probably scientists.

We kept on walking, and then we met a person that seemed to be in charge of the lab.

"Hello there, Prof," She greeted him casually.

The man turned around, "Oh, if it isn't Airi, what do you need?"

"This friend of mine here wants to know some things," She tapped my shoulder lightly.

"_We are friends already?"_

The professor approached me, "I'm Okido, Yukinari Okido," He smiled at me and offered his hand.

I shook his hand, "Fujimaki Hiro, and this is my little sister, Rei."

"Oh, come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself yet!" The girl shouted, "Arakawa Airi here!" She then smiled.

,

"So, what do you want to know?" We sat down on the chair.

"Are there any ways to go to another world?" I asked without any hesitation.

"What?" The professor seemed to be surprised. Well, of course, I was asking that question out of nowhere.

I then explained my circumstances all I could which took quite sometime.

,

Professor Okido nodded, " I see. Assuming that you are correct, you came from another world, and you didn't know why you ended up here?"

"Yes," I nodded, "Is there any way to return to our original world?"

"_Please, tell me there is a way."_

"Hmm..." He closed his eyes, thinking.

"_Please..."_

"_There must be way, right?"_

"_We won't stay here forever, right?"_

Those were my thoughts.

After a brief moment, he opened his mouth and spoke, "Sadly, I also don't know how could this happen."

"_...What?"_

Hearing those words, something broke inside me. Despair filled my head, I was frozen.

"I think I'll need some more time to find out the cause of this," The Professor spoke, but I didn't pay any attention.

Airi sighed, "Well, guess that'll have to wait. Let's go back," She then walked away.

"I am sorry, but we will do our best to figure out the cause of this," Professor Okido apologized. I only nodded lightly in response.

We exited the laboratory, and walked slowly towards Airi's house.

"Guess you two will have to stay here for a while then, huh?" She said that in her usual cheerful tone.

"But...The Professor will figure a way out, right?" Rei finally spoke after quite a while of silence.

Airi nodded, "Yep, prof will find a way, rest assured."

Even after hearing that, I still couldn't regain my composure. I was thinking on how can we live in this world. This entirely different world.

"...Your fault," I muttered.

"Eh?" Rei, who was beside me, heard it.

"It was your fault..." I muttered again.

"B-Big brother?" She was wondering what had happened to me.

I didn't even know it myself.

"It was all your fault!" I shouted at her, "If you hadn't asked to go outside, this wouldn't have happened! I knew it...I knew that I shouldn't have decided to go outside with you, after all!"

Rei was frightened, she couldn't say anything. She could only put on the expression where she was about to cry.

"W-What's wrong with you, Hiro!?" Airi approached me.

I ignored her, and ran away as fast as I could. I was thinking of going back to the place where we were before, when we had just arrived in this strange world.

"_This doesn't make any sense..."_

"_Everything was fine up until now."_

"_A sudden earthquake? Appearing in another world with monsters everywhere? This is absurd!"_

"_Why? Why did this has to happen to me?"_

I panicked, I couldn't think straight. I just kept on running and running.

I ran through the grasses, there were a few mice from before, but I ignored them and kept on dashing forward.

I was hoping that there would be something that can return us to our world at the place before.

When I was arrived at the place, a figure was standing, it was Airi. She must have flew here through the help of Flamby as I saw it stood near her.

I stopped my steps.

Airi ran towards me, "What were you thinking, Hiro!?"

I couldn't say anything, I knew I did something bad, but...

"Do you know how your sister feels after hearing you said those things to her!?" Airi spoke.

However, my negative feelings got the better of me, "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be in this world."

"What?" Airi finally got near me.

"I said it was all her fault!" I shouted once again.

I could feel an impact along with slight pain after that. Airi didn't respond, she just punched me in the face.

"You only care for yourself! Didn't you consider your sister's feelings? She is also worried that you and she cannot go back!" Airi spoke.

"..." I couldn't say anything.

"She even said that it was okay for you to hate her as it was all her fault..." Her tone went down. I could hear sobbings coming from her, "She tried to hold back her tears, but..."

Why is she crying? This has nothing to do with ther in the first place.

"You two are a family, yet..." She went down to her knees while closing her face with her hands.

I see...She doesn't have any family member to accompany her anymore. But, I didn't find it to be enough reason be cried over. Maybe she cherished things like family bonds deeply?

I was silent for a while. Thinking on her words.

Did I really only think of myself?

Of course I did. I didn't even consider the fact that Rei is as worried as I am, or perhaps even more.

I'm her big brother, yet not only I shouted at her, I also put all the blame on her and abandoned her.

She is younger than me, weaker than me. I thought that with her achievements in good grades in almost all aspects, she was far stronger than me.

I didn't even notice...That I should be the one guarding her.

"..."

"...I'm sorry," I spoke up.

"You'd better tell that to Rei..." She wiped her tears.

"I know, shall we go back?" I offered her my hand. I finally managed to calm down.

She took my hand, and I pulled her up on her feet.

"I'm sorry..." I said that again.

"I told you to say that to your little sister, didn't I?" She let out a slight smile.

We rode on the back of Airi's Charizard, Flamby and flew back to Pallet Town.

I went inside her house,and found Rei sitting on the sofa. She stared at me as I approached her.

"B-Big brother...I'm so-" I cut her sentence short.

"I'm sorry," I hugged her.

"E-Eh?"

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry," a drop of tear fell from my eye.

"N-No, it was my fault..." I could sense that she was still crying a bit.

"No, it's not. It's not anyone's fault." I looked at her. There's nothing we can do about this world.

"I'll protect you," I said it firmly.

Airi was watching behind us the whole time, smiling.

"Y-Yes!" Rei finally smiled.

,

That day marks the real beginning of our life in that world, the world of Pokémon.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed reading it! Please review the story as it will let me know your opinion on it. It will really help me a lot! Stay tuned for the next chapter :)


	3. Starting Point

Hello again! Chapter 3 is here! This chapter will be about explaining things and clearing things up more before the 'real thing' starts. Hope you'll enjoy it, and don't forget to leave a review! :D

* * *

I was "stranded" in a world of bizarre creatures and ways of living along with my little sister, and there were no ways of getting out of here, at least for now. I had to live in this world until we can find a way to get out of this realm, which means that I have to live with extraordinary creatures, and...

"GOOD MORNING!" Airi smacked my head while I was having a cup of plain water early in the morning, resulting in me spilling the water.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I put the glass on the table nearby indignantly.

She just smiled while having her hair down and a towel around her neck, "Come on, don't be mad so early in the morning!" Seemed like she had just taken a bath.

I gave her an empty look and walked away, "Whatever, it's my turn to take a bath now."

I grabbed my change of clothes from the sofa and was prepared to head to the bathroom, but one of the doors opened, and Rei walked up in her pajamas.

"Good morning big brother...Airi-san too..." She rubbed her eyes.

"Still sleepy?" I asked with a light smile.

She shook her head frantically, "N-No."

Airi approached her, "Why don't you take a bath, Rei?"

"Eh? But, big brother..."She seemed indecisive.

"I'm fine with taking it later. You can go in first and fix that messy hair of yours," I put the clothes down and sat down on the sofa casually.

"Heh?" She stroked her hair as if she hadn't realized her bed hair, "Y-Yes!"

After she went inside the bathroom in a hurry, Airi sat down beside me.

"So, have you gotten used to living here?" She asked.

I sighed and looked at the window in front of us, "Isn't that obvious?"

"I see...But you seemed to be having so much fun yesterday," She grinned.

I stared at her briefly before staring at the window again, "...I can't deny that yesterday was quite amusing."

"Right? This world is much more fun than you think," She beamed with joy and pride.

I remained silent.

_**The day before...**_

"So, where will be living?" Airi asked us shortly after we have settled down.

I thought for a while, but of course, nothing came into mind, "Now that you mention it...I have no idea."

"U-Um, Airi-san?" Rei spoke.

"Yes?" Airi responded and looked towards her.

"Can we stay here?" She suggested something.

"For a long-stay, nope," She answered immediately.

Well, of course. Anyone will definitely not let someone they just met staying in their house as a freeloader. However, we really don't have any place to stay here in this world.

"W-Why? Is it because we will just freeload? I can do the chores! Big brother can work and support you with the living expenses, and-" Looked like she really wanted to stay here.

"Well, that's not really the problem. You can stay here for a day or two, but I won't be staying here often after that," She said.

"What are you planning to do?" I questioned her.

"A journey!" She answered fervently.

"What?" I couldn't comprehend the meaning behind that word much.

"I am planning to go on a journey to become a Pokémon Champion!" She said with enthusiasm, "That is my dream since I was little, you see."

"But...Isn' t it dangerous to go on a journey by yourself?" Rei said something that is quite natural to be said after hearing someone saying to go on a journey.

"Of course there are dangers involved, but it's not really that uncommon to go on a journey in this world. In fact, plenty of people are doing it," She explained.

"So...They go on a journey with those dangerous monsters?" I asked something that I could guess the answer to.

She nodded, "Exactly! People travel with their Pokémon for various reasons, but I aim to be the champion!"

I recalled something Airi said earlier, Pokémon Trainers.

"Are those people considered as Pokémon Trainers?" I asked again.

"Yes, and most travelling Pokémon Trainers aim to be the champion," She answered.

"I know this is obvious enough, but those trainers battle with their Pokémon, right?" I threw another question at her.

"Yeah, maybe I should also explain on how Pokémon Battles work...Why don't we all sit down?"

We all sat on the sofa, with Rei beside me, and Airi in front of us.

"Pokémon Battles are battles between Pokémon, and is one of the main attractions in this world," She paused for a bit, " As you might have realized by now, not all Pokémon are tame or have a nice, kind behaviour. There are wild, ferocious ones, or the ones that are aggressive by nature. Those kinds of Pokémon will require special training and a lot of effort before they can be trusted as your companions, or to be used in a battle."

"You mentioned that in those battles, the Pokémon will not be killed, right?" I interrupted.

"Yes. There are official battles and unofficial battles. Official Battles ares held in a specialized place built for Pokémon Battles, such as the Pokémon Gyms, Pokémon League, Battle Tower and such. For unofficial battles, they can be held almost anywhere as long as there are trainers who has agreed to battle each other. Of course, the battles between larger Pokémon are prohibited in largely populated areas such as towns and cities. In some places, there are 'stadiums' of some sort that can be freely used for battles," Her explanation continued, "In Pokémon Battles, the Pokémon that fainted or unable to continue to fight are considered as defeated."

"What if the Pokémon are accidentally severely injured in those battles? Won't their lives be in danger? Also, what will happen if there are people that use Pokémon to do criminal acts and other unjustifiable acts?" I barraged her with more questions.

"Aren't you a curious one," Airi grinned, "Okay then, I shall answer them all. In official battles, the Pokémon which the trainers own will be given a kind of gadget that resembles a small strap. That thing will read the Pokémon's health and condition, in which they will be displayed in a screen. That way, we will be able to know whether the Pokémon can continue the battle or not. Though in unofficial battles outside the stadiums, there is no such thing, and we will have to determine the condition of our Pokémon ourselves. As for the criminal acts, those persons, without doubt, will be punished by law, and the level of the punishment depends on the severity of the acts committed,"

"But, wouldn't the injured Pokémon take a long time to heal?" Rei also had a question of her own.

Airi shook her head, "Nope, there are facilities called the Pokémon Centre available in most towns and cities, though Pallet Town doesn't have one. There, the Pokémon will be healed in minutes, as long as the injuries are not too severe, such as losing limbs, broken bones and such. I don't know how the process works myself, as far as I know, you just have to give them your Pokéballs, and in a few minutes, your Pokémon will be all healthy again," As she said that, she gestured her hand in a manner that even I found it funny, she then continued, "Prof once tried explaining the proccess to me, but I wasn't paying any attention."

"Pokéball? Is it like the one that you used on Flamby?"

"Yes. Pokéballs are special items used to catch and store Pokémon. As for how they work, hmm..." She then closed her eyes, thinking.

After only a few seconds, she opened her eyes, "Whatever, just throw them at the Pokémon you want to catch after weakening it and it will do the rest."

I didn't know if she was too lazy to explain or didn't understand the mechanic of Pokéballs, but I pretty much got the idea.

"Phew, I spoke a lot today!" She stood up, "Why don't we all go out and have some fun?"

"Huh?" I was a bit surprised at her sudden suggestion.

"Don't worry, I will explain about the other things some other time," She grinned.

"Where are we going?" Rei asked something I was about to ask.

Airi smiled, "Viridian City."

,

We all went outside together and Airi then called out her Charizard, Flamby. There are also a few children playing around with a human that looked weird. It has a different color of skin and is not wearing...Anything!?  
Seeing my reaction, Airi approached me, "That's a Machop."

"Huh?Machop? So...That's a Pokémon?" I realized. I looked closely, and that creature certainly didn't really resemble a human that much, though in a glance, it looked like a one.

"Don't think that it is a weak Pokémon now, it is quite strong you know," Airi then got on Flamby's back and called us, "Hop on!"

I helped Rei to get up before positioning myself behind her.

After we got into position, Airi signaled, "Okay then, take off, Flamby!" She pointed towards the sky.

Flamby leapt and flapped its wings. Once again, we were on the flaming lizard's back.

We were in the air, though I didn't struggle as much as before now, Rei seemed to be abit nervous. Well, she was unconscious last time, after all.

I grabbed her a bit tighter, to which she smiled at me, and I returned that smile with a smile.

After around 5 minutes of flight, we landed at a grass field and got down.

Airi thanked Flamby and returned it to the Pokéball, "Okay, the city is just up ahead. Let us go!" She raised her arm up and led us as if she was the party leader of a game.

We walked for a few minutes and reached a place that was seemingly larger than Pallet Town. A sign I saw when we just entered read "Viridian City".

While walking inside the city, I saw a red roofed building with a Pokéball icon on it. I asked Airi and she told me that was the one of the Pokémon Centres she had been talking about, and beside the building was a blue roofed building with a slightly different design, which was the PokéMart. According to Airi, that place sells things concerning Pokémon, like Pokéballs and medicines for the creatures.

I was wondering where were we going as I and Rei were just following Airi without having a clue as for the destination. Therefore, I decided to ask Airi, "Where are we going exactly?"

She turned back while still walking, backwards, "To buy you clothes, of course."

...What? Clothes?

"You two will be living here from now, so wouldn't you need some change of clothes?" She turned around again.

She's right. If we were going to live here, we undoubtedly need some clothes. Though, we still have no idea where will we be living.

,

"We are here!" She spun around and faced towards us.

"Still, I'm afraid the money we have on us can't be used in this world," I guessed something plausible.

"May I have a look?" Airi snatched my wallet which I just took out from my pocket.

"Hey-!" I wanted to take it back, but she avoided my attack.

"Hmm...There are weird people on these things," She stared at one of the notes.

"They are not weird!" I snatched my wallet back, though she was still holding that one note. Well, it couldn't be used anyway.

"Can I have this?" She asked me.

She wanted that thing? Well, it's not that big of a deal, so...

"Sure, just take it," I put my wallet back into my pocket.

"Really? Thanks!" She then held it up on the air and kept on staring at it.

"...So, I guess we won't be going inside, then," I said.

" Ah, we will still go inside!" She finally stopped staring at the note, "I'll be the one paying, so don't worry!" She put on a 'leave it to me' pose.

We went inside the store, and inside, it was like the usual fashion store, with all kinds of outfits lined up inside.

"Waah, there are so many!" Rei moved in front, it's nice to see her quite delighted.

"Right? Now then, I shall choose the ones that look good with you, Rei!" Airi grabbed Rei's hand and started dragging her everywhere.

,

We looked around until the sun sets. In the end, I chose several pieces of simple clothings. Rei had also chosen a few of her own, and Airi wanted to buy a maid outfit for her, but I declined that offer even though she was the one paying. Who would wear such a thing outside?

We then flew back to Pallet Town, and when we arrived, it's already dark. It looked like that we spent quite a lot of time in Viridian City.

I thanked Airi for the clothes, and she said, "Would you like to stay at my place tonight?"

"Huh?" I thought that she didn't want to-

"Though I will be gone in a day or two, but it's fine before then," She remarked.

"Really? Thank you, Airi-san!" Rei was relieved that we finally got a temporary shelter.

"Don't mention it," She waved her hand, "Now, since it's night time, I've got a place that will definitely struck you two with amazement."

We followed Airi to the back of the town, where there were no buildings, and there was a pool of water...Which seemed to connect to the ocean. There, we could see the bright stars clearly.

"So beautiful..." Rei was amazed by the view.

"There will be more awesome things," She sat down on the grass.

Then, I saw something jumping out from the water, with red glows. Its a...Star?

There were also several fishes swimming gracefully and popping out occasionally. For some reason, they seemed to moving in a pattern, as if they were in a performance.

Though I didn't really understand what were they doing, the movements were so smooth that it had a certain artistic feel to them. Followed by the once-in-a-while appearances of the shining star, the scene looked enchanting. Rei was so into the 'performance' that she couldn't say anything.

"They are Staryu and Goldeen," Airi spoke, "For some reason, they do this when the stars are bright like tonight. Though there aren't many Staryu here...How is it?"

"It's...Beautiful," I said while admiring the movements.

Below the shining stars that reflected beauty, we spent the night admiring the magnificent performance of the water Pokémon.

,

_**Present Time...**_

"Hey, Hiro," Airi called out to me.

"What?" I responded.

She stood up, "Would you two like to go on an adventure with me?"

"Eh?" I was surprised by her offer. Just how many times had it been already?

"It'd be easier for you two as there will be shelters, though they are temporary. I saved enough money for this, so don't worry about that. Besides, it'd be lonely if I went on my quest alone," She offered me her hand.

Her words made sense. Living would certainly be easier with her as she had the ability to support us. Moreover, her Pokémon was reliable, and I didn't know whether Flamby was her only Pokémon or not. We probably wouldn't be able to escape from this world anytime soon, too. We didn't even know whether we could return to our world or not. Judging from the Proffessor's response, he probably didn't know anything about the sudden incident of being 'transported' into this world, though that was to be expected as he researched Pokémon, not world travelling. Hence, the appropriate answer would be...

"Fine then," I shook her hand.

Airi grinned at my acceptance of her request, "Great! Then, we shall set off today!"

,

Wait, today?

* * *

Chapter 3 is done! Sorry if it's not really intense, but the setup for future writings is needed. I really hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter. Stay tuned for the next update!


	4. Journey, start!

"Then, let's go!" Airi walked towards the door.

"Go to where?" I asked, having no idea what was on her mind.

"To get you a Pokémon, of course," She turned and gave me her usual smile.

Hearing that, of course I was shocked. However, how could I go on a journey without a Pokémon? I wouldn't be able to protect Rei and myself, and we could get our lives taken away by those creatures.

"But...How are we going to get one?" I questioned again, seemed like I had been asking a lot of questions lately.

"We'll take one from the lab!" She answered with fervor.

...Take one?

"You mean, steal one?" I assumed something that I know was not good.

"Yep," She actually nodded.

"What!? You are seriously going to steal one!?" I was shocked at her response.

"Of course not," She denied it, and I was even more confused.

"WHICH ONE IS IT!?" I couldn't take this tomfoolery any longer.

She laughed, " Haha, of course we are going to take one, legally."

So, she had me fooled. Though it was my fault for being such an idiot in actually believing her.

"Prof has plenty of Pokémon, though not all of them and only the basic ones," She told me something that made sense. The Professor was a researcher of Pokémon, after all.

"But...Is it okay to take one?" I was a bit hesitated. Wouldn't doing that affect his research?

"Of course it's okay, he has so many, taking one won't be a problem!" She grinned, "Now, let's go!"

"Wait," I stopped her tracks, "Shouldn't we tell Rei about this, first?"

We waited for Rei to come out from the bathroom.

"Sorry for taking so long. Now it's your turn, big brother," She wiped her hair with the towel.

"Rei, I have something to tell you," I approached her.

"Huh?" She had a confused expression, wondering what might it be.

,

I explained things to her, that we would be going with Airi on her quest to become a pokémon Champion. Even I think that this was like a video game event or something. Travelling to become the best? It's like the dream of some generic protagonists. Even so, this world was real, her ambition was real, and the situation that fell upon us, where we couldn't get out of this world, was also real. We need to survive, and to do that, we couldn't just stay put in one place doing nothing.

I tried making the explanation simple, and Rei listened to me the entire time.

,

"Okay, I got it," She seemed to agree with my decision.

"So...you're fine with it?" I asked for confirmation.

She nodded, "I'm okay with it. We couldn't live by just by ourselves in this world, right?

A feel of relief came to me, I'm glad that she could understand. Well, it's not like we have any other choice.

Shortly after the explanation, Airi stood up, "Okay then, let's go get your Pokémon!"

"Wait," I stopped her once again.

"What now?" She put on a annoyed expression.

"Wait for us to get ready first..." I said to her as I haven't taken my bath yet, and Rei's hair was still unkempt.

,

After we got ready, we prepared to get out of the house. Airi was in front of us as she supposed to, "Finally, let's go!"

We walked until we reached the laboratory with Airi humming a song unknown to me.

We arrived at the front of the laboratory, and Airi proceeded with opening the door casually, "Good morning!"

"..." There were no response.

We couldn't find anyone in the laboratory. It seemed that the professor with the other researchers had gone out for some fieldwork or something, that's what researchers do, anyway.

"Should we go back and come again later?" I broke the silence.

"Why?" Airi asked something that everyone should knew the answer of.

"There isn't anyone here, how can we get a Pokémon if the owner of the lab isn't here?" I answered.

"We can still take them, you know," She walked inside.

"What? Wait, don't tell me you are going to..." I followed after her.

"Nope, I'm not going to steal one," She replied, "I'm just going to take one or two and tell prof later."

That's still taking things without permission...

"I-Is it okay for us to do so?" Rei followed after me.

"Of course it's not. It's so obvious," I responded immediately.

"Don't worry, prof is a good man, I'm sure he will allow us to take one or two without his permission," Airi continued walking.

I didn't believe her...There's no way that such a human could exist.

We kept on walking. I tried to persuade Airi to go back and wait for the professor to return, but she paid no attention whatsoever, saying it's okay to take a few. I could just go and leave her behind, but I didn't think that could stop her from doing what she aimed to do.

We walked down the stairs, and there was a door before us.

"Now then..." Airi opened the door.

Surprisingly, the door opened. There were no locks or such, and that made me wondered what could be on the mind of the professor, leaving his "specimens" in a room without any kind of security.

"Hey, shouldn't we just-" I attempted in persuading her once more, but she replied with a "nope" before I could even finish my sentence.

We went inside the room, and there were a lot of pokéballs placed in a kind of "shelves".

"There are so many..." Rei was amazed.

"Now then, pick whichever one you like!" Airi turned around and spread her arm, as if the lab was hers.

"There's no way I'm going to do this," I replied.

"Eh? You are not going to pick one?" Airi looked a bit surprised.

"No. I have common sense. Things wouldn't be good if our act were to be found out," I turned back, "Let's go back, Rei."

"Eh? Okay..." Rei followed me.

Airi thought for a moment, "Well then, I'll just choose one for you!"

Hearing that, I turned back, "You can't do that!"

Ignoring me, Airi approached one of the shelves, "Pidgey...Well, this one is acceptable," She grabbed the Pokéball.

I rushed towards her and tried to snatch the Pokéball, but she avoided my grasp.

"Come on, it's fine!" She then ran towards another shelf.

"...Whatever," I walked back.

Airi grabbed another one, "So, you're fine with me picking some for you?"

"No way. I'm going to go back and wait until the professor returns," I said with a languid wave of my hand, "You are the one that will be in trouble when the professor comes back if you keep going like this,"

"Eh? You are abandoning me?" Airi responded with a bit of astonishment, "You can't do that!"

She rushed towards me and put one of the Pokéballs in my pocket.

"What the- Hey, what are doing!?" I took the ball out.

"With this, you are going to be in trouble too!" Airi said.

"There's no way I'm going to keep this thing! I'm going to-" I was planning to put the Pokéball back.

"Umm, big brother?" Rei called out.

"What?" I turned around, and found...Professor Okido.

"Ah..." Both Airi and I synchronized in responding.

,

"So, you wanted to have a Pokémon?" Professor asked after we explained the situation.

"Y-Yes," I answered.

"Hmm..." The professor was thinking, "Can you take care of your Pokémon?"

"I don't know...I have never taken care of one before. So..." I stated what was on my mind.

"Ah, yes, of course. You are from a different world, after all," Professor Okido rubbed his the back of his head.

"Don't worry, I'll teach him on taking care of one," Airi said confidently.

"Is that so?" Professor than went back to think, "Then, it's fine."

"Eh? So that means..." I guessed the answer.

"Yes, you can have one," He nodded.

"Then, I will pick one for you!" Airi stood up.

I didn't care which one it is, as long as I can use it to protect Rei as well as myself, and aid us on several things in the future. I didn't understand anything about those creatures, so I let Airi to decide for me.

Rei and I waited while Airi and the professor went down the stairs to the Pokéball storage.

"..." Neither of us spoke a word.

"Big brother?" Airi opened her mouth.

"What is it?" I responded.

"What do you think about this world?" She asked while glancing at me from the corner of her eyes.

This world? The thing that was on my mind when I first arrived was : This world is strange. Extraordinary mice, a giant lizard with a burning tail, living stars, they were all so out of this world for me. However, they were real. Good thing that there were also humans in this world, and there are similarities in their way of living with ours. Still, I was thinking that this world is dangerous. Maybe it's because of the world they had been living in and their different lifestyles, but I couldn't really understand the thinking of the people in this world.

There were people travelling for various purposes, including the people that went on a journey to become the Pokémon Champion, the highest rank for the Pokémon Trainers. But, a 16 year old girl had planned to embark on this journey, the journey with a lot of risks, a tremendous amount of danger. Even though there were Pokémon to protect us, it still wouldn't be able to guarantee our safety. Furthermore, there are battles by using those creatures, and that might cause injuries to the creatures as well as the trainers themselves. This is different from an anime where the persons wouldn't die from fire breathing dragons and severe electric shocks, if we were to be exposed to those attacks, we would without doubt, die.

If you were to ask me if I wanted to escape from this world, I'd still say yes. I want to get away from this dangerous world, this extraordinary world. Thinking back on it, it's really ridiculous for arriving here from going out to a department store, arriving in a world where we couldn't get out from.

But...

"It's more beautiful than I thought," I answered while staring at the ceiling of the lab.

Rei looked at me, and nodded with a smile, "Yes!"

"And don't worry, no matter what happens, I will protect you," I looked at her.

She nodded happily again, "You're back, big brother."

I didn't really understand her statement, "What do you mean?"

"You've returned the kind big brother like before," She smiled.

Like before?

"The big brother that always cared for me, always protected me," She added.

Now I get it. I used to be a kind of big brother that always care about his little sister. Helping her with her homework, playing with her when there is time, protecting her from bullies around the neighborhood, before becoming a person that always stay inside his room playing video games and ignoring her.

I couldn't even remember what triggered that change.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

Rei shook her head, "No, it's my fault for being too annoying at times,"

Still, no matter what had happened in the past, I will now protect her to the best of my ability.

,

Airi and Professor Okido returned after we had little conversations on random things, bringing two pokéballs with them.

"Here," Airi handed me one of the pokéballs.

"Won't you explain to me the Pokémon inside or something first?" I looked at her.

"It's better for you to find that out yourself," She grinned.

I took the Pokéball from her, "So...How do I use this thing?"

"Just throw it," Airi told me while demonstrating a "throwing" pose.

I did as she told, threw the Pokéball, and when it was about to hit the ground, the pokéball opened by itself, and a white light appeared from the ball, beamed to the ground and a being materialized. The light soon dissipated, and a figure was standing there. It was a...turtle?

It was a light blue colored turtle with a brown – pale yellow shell.

It let out a cry.

"What is this thing?" I pointed at the turtle.

"That's not a thing, it is a squirtle," Professor Okido told me.

"Squirtle?" What a weird name it had.

I picked squirtle up, "It's quite small, isn't it?"

How can something this size protect us from the threats in this world? It couldn't be rode on, and it didn't seem to be excel much in physical strength. Also, it resembled a turtle, which means that it could only probably went hiding when danger approaches. In short, a coward type of Pokémon.

Squirtle then opened it's mouth. I wondered what was it going to do, and water was shot into my face, which caused my head to be garbed with it.

"Hahaha, you must be thinking something bad earlier!" Airi laughed at me.

I put squirtle down and wiped myself with a towel from Rei, "So, this turtle can spit out water?"

"Yes, that's the move water gun," Professor Okido said.

"There are other moves?" I looked at the professor.

"Exactly, but not all of them can be known by a specific Pokémon," He added, "For example, water type Pokémon, like this squirtle here, can learn water gun, but not fire type moves like ember."

It looks like that a Pokémon can only learn certain moves, and the kinds of moves depend on what type the Pokémon is.

"For now, try to give this squirtle an order," The professor told me.

An order? What kind of order should give? Would it listen to my orders that easily?

I thought for a moment, and gave it an order, "Sit."

It did what it was told, and actually sat down.

"Eh?" I was surprised by how easy it was.

"Nice! Seems like he knew that you are going to be his owner," Airi said.

He knew?

"Well, Pokémon have the ability to understand us humans, after all. There might even be some which are smarter than us," Professor Okido explained.

I had never thought that these creatures have an intelligence level that couldn't be underestimated. Now this can certainly help us in the future.

"Try giving it an attacking order," Professor Okido suggested.

An attacking order? Well, it can shoot out water earlier, so...

"Squirtle, use water gun!" I exclaimed.

It then opened its mouth like earlier, and water was shoot from it. It was exactly the same as before, including the target himself.

I was once again, soaked with water.

"Ahahaha! Looks like it really likes you!" Airi rolled on the floor, convulsing from laughter.

"Well, you didn't give it any target, after all," The professor scratched his head.

Rei gave me the towel once again, and I wiped myself with it like before.

"Oh, here is yours, Rei," Airi gave him the other Pokéball.

"Eh?" Rei was surprised to think that she also got one.

"Why don't you find out what is inside?" Airi smiled.

Rei threw the pokéball and just like in my case, the pokéball opened and the light from it materialized and the being inside the Pokéball revealed itself. It was a...frog. To be more specific, it was a frog with a green bulb on its back.

"Waah!" Rei seemed to be happy, "so cute!"

"That's a bulbasaur," Professor Okido stated, "It is a grass type Pokémon."

"What can it do?" I asked, being curious.

"It is quite useful, actually," Professor turned towards Rei, "Rei-chan, try ordering bulbasaur to use its vines."

Rei wondered for a while, before giving a command to the bulbasaur, "Bulby, use your vines to get that glass."

Two vines appeared from its bulb, and stretched their way to the glass on the table, wrapped around it, and gave it to Rei.

"That's impressive," I was quite amazed, "Wait, Bulby?"

Another stupid nickname, it seems.

"Good one, Rei!" Airi gave her a thumbs up, "Why don't you give one to your squirtle too, Hiro?"

"No. I couldn't think of any. Besides, what's the purpose?" I declined.

"Come on, it will help you to have a closer bond with you pokémon!" Airi insisted.

"No way, it's pointless," I declined again.

"Then, I'll pick one for you!" She decided on her own.

"Whatever," I replied without any care for her.

Airi then went into thinking mode, "Let's see...Bubbly!"

Another weird name arrived.

"Wouldn't that be confusing? I mean, Bubbly and Bulby sound alike..." I tried to refuse that name.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Airi waved her hand.

"Yeah, it sounds great, big brother!" Rei agreed.

...Well, it's not like that this will affect us much, anyway. Besides, Airi and Rei seemed happy.

I approached squirtle, which is now called Bubbly, "Er...How to put them back inside?" I asked.

Airi then looked at me, "Huh? I thought you already knew."

Now that she mention it, I recalled when Airi returned Flamby to her pokéball. At that time, she pointed the pokéball at it and it miraculously went inside it.

"Like this?" I pointed the pokéball at squirtle.

After around 3 seconds, a light colored beam of light covered it, and went inside the pokéball shortly after. Squirtle was gone.

"I see..." I stared at the pokéball, and pressed the button on it which caused it to shrunk in size, "So that's how this thing works."

Rei did the same and put her pokéball inside her bag.

Professor Okido approached us, "You three are really going on a journey?"

"Yes," We replied.

"Don't worry, I will teach him the things he need to know!" Airi said with another "leave it to me" pose.

"Thank you very much for the Pokémon," I bowed and thanked the professor, "We're sorry for taking one out of nowhere."

"No, no, it's fine. Take it as a token of my apology for not being able to help you return to your world, " Professor Okido said, "We will keep on trying to figure out the cause and solution."

We bid farewell to the professor and left the lab.

We went to Airi's house to get a few things ready. I didn't have much things here, so I just prepared some change of clothes.

When then meet at the living room, with Airi grabbing two objects.

"Belt clips?" I said.

Airi nodded, "This will make the action of taking your pokéball out easier."

"Thank you, Airi-san!" Rei said in a proper manner, and Airi responded with a happy grin.

We took the belt clips, put them on, and headed out to route 1, the place where Rei and I first arrived.

Airi took out one of her pokéballs, "Come out, Flamby!"

Flamby the Charizard emerged from the pokéball, and Airi rode on its back, "I don't need to tell you to get up here, right?"

Something was on my mind this entire time, "Are you going to fly straight to our destination?"

That can certainly save us a lot of time, rather than travelling on foot.

"Nope, we can't just fly to the places we wanted to visit. We need training, experience, as well as knowledge to become a Pokémon Champion. Besides, if we keep on flying, it won't be any fun, will it?" Airi grinned, "Also, even with this map, I only know some places here in Kanto."

Well, that sure made sense, in a way.

We got up to Flamby's back with Airi on the front, Rei on the middle, and myself on the back.

"So..Where are we going?" I questioned.

"Viridian city, we will start from route 2," Airi answered.

There were still several questions that I wanted to ask, but I left them for later. As for now...

"All right Flamby, fly!" Flamby flapped its wings a few times, and eventually, we were in the middle of the air.

Airi pointed forward, as if pointing out our direction, and exclaimed, "Towards our future!"

,

That moment marks the start of our journey, a journey of unexpected things, encounters...and farewells.

* * *

Chapter 4 is finally done! Hope you enjoyed reading it. I didn't do the author introduction as I think that it might disrupt the reading experience if there is one in every chapter. There will be more things happening in the next chapter, so look forward to it! As usual, tell me your opinion on this by reviewing :D


	5. Viridian Forest

We were on our way to Viridian City while riding on Flamby's back.

"Hey, Airi," I called out to her.

"Hm?" She responded without turning back.

"Why do you want to become a Pokémon Champion?" I asked while having the chance to do so.

Still facing forward, she answered, "Don't you think that becoming the best trainer is a thing that every trainer dreams of?"

Is that it?

"Well, it's my dream since I was little, you see, I love pokémon battles," She stated, " I watched them on television, on tournaments and such."

"So you are saying that you aim to become the best simply because it looks amazing?" I did a guesswork.

Airi was silent for a brief moment, before responding, "Kind of."

I didn't know if that really was her reason to become a Pokémon Champion, but I suppose everyone knows that if that reason was real, then it might not worth the risk and the danger that she was going to take. Nevertheless, I put the questions on hold for now.

We remained silent throughout the flight until we reached Viridian City.

Each of us got down from Flamby, "Haah, we're finally here," Rei seemed to be relieved.

"Did you feel uneasy earlier?" I asked her.

"Umm, I was afraid that if I moved around too much, I might fall down..,"

I couldn't help but smile at her, "Don't worry, I will make sure that won't happen," while Airi returned Flamby to her pokéball.

"Yes!" Rei nodded with a smile.

"Okay then, let us gather some things!" Airi then walked off.

We followed after her, "What are we going to do, Airi-san?" Rei questioned.

"Buy some essentials, of course," Airi answered while walking.

"Haven't you got everything ready?" I asked.

"I only have a few of those things," She replied without looking back, "We need more supplies as the amount with me is very limited."

I didn't even know what are the 'essentials' she talked about. I was thinking of food, drinks, and other consumables as well as change of clothes and such. The only unusual thing that I could thought of were pokéballs.

We kept on walking until we reached a building with a blue roof, a blue pokéball logo on it, and glass doors.

Airi pushed the door open with us behind her.

Inside, it was like a minimarket. Shelves filled with a variety of products, a few decorative plants, and cashiers can be seen.

The items displayed ranged from ordinary items, such as ropes, mosquito repellents, to the ones that can only be seen in this world like the pokéballs.

"There are so many weird items here!" Rei ran and looked around on her own right after we stepped inside.

"So, what are you going to buy?" I questioned.

"Let's see," She took out a memo of some sort from her pocket, "pokéballs, repels, antidotes."

"Antidotes?" I didn't really like the sound of that, "There are risks of getting poisoned already?"

"There are poison-type Pokémon around Viridian Forest, so this is just for safety measures," Airi then walked towards one of the shelves.

Her words reminded me of how dangerous this world is...Was it really the correct choice to go on a journey in this world?

Airi grabbed some items and paid for them. We then called Rei and stepped out of the building.

"Are you sure that you have enough money for the journey?" I asked while walking.

"Don't worry, I've been saving since I was little," Airi proceeded walking, "Besides, we can always get some more through battling."

"Battling?" I wondered why could battles give us money, was it like gambling or something?

"Yeah, when we win a battle, we will receive some money," She answered.

So, the loser would have to pay the winner...I really couldn't get the way things work in this world.

"By the way, where are we going?" I still didn't know our destination.

Airi turned around, "Haven't I told you already?"

"Umm...Viridian Forest?" I recalled her words back in the mini market.

Airi nodded and continued walking, "Be careful of the bug-types there."

"B-Bugs?" Rei seemed to be in discomfort after hearing those words.

"Are those bugs harmful?" I asked.

"Well, they are not that aggressive, but there are a few ones which will sting you when they feel provoked," Airi replied, "That's why I bought these antidotes."

Airi grab ahold of my hand, seemed like that she was afraid of the bugs in the forest.

I looked at her and said, "We'll be fine."

"Oh, did I scare you, Rei?" Airi looked behind, "Don't worry, these antidotes are just for assurances. We won't get harmed that easily," She said with a cheerful smile.

Hearing those words, though there were still a bit of worries left in her expression, Rei seemed to be relieved.

We then got out of the city, and before us was a pathway with a lot of trees surrounding it.

"So, this is route 2?" I asked.

Airi nodded, "Yep, and after we got through the gate there, we will arrive in Viridian Forest, She pointed towards the gate in the distance.

We continued walking, and I found a bird-like pokémon with brown and cream colored feathers pecking on the ground.

"That pokémon is not dangerous, isn't it?" I pointed towards the creature.

"It's a docile one, a Pidgey," Airi answered, "Want to try catching it?"

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded, "Catching it?"

Airi took a pokéball out of her bag, and tossed it towards me.

I grabbed the pokéball, but I was unsure of what to do.

"Use that to catch it," Airi said, "It would be better if you try weakening it first, though."

"Weakening it?" I was confused, really confused.

"Try calling out your squirtle," Airi pointed towards my pokéball on my belt clip.

Still confused, I did what she suggested. I took my pokéball, threw it, and bubbly appeared.

"Just blast water on it until it looks tired or something," Airi told me. Those words of hers definitely didn't sound like a good instruction.

I commanded bubbly to use water gun anyway, I need to get familiar with these kind of things if I'm going on a travel in this worlds.

Bubbly opened its mouth and expelled a forceful shot of water towards the Pidgey, but the avoided the attack.

"Flying-types can avoid your attacks while in the middle of the air easily, you know, " Airi walked away towards the grasses and leaned down.

Seriously, does she plan to assist me in capturing or not?

Bubbly kept on squirting out water on my command, but none of the blasts seemed to hit the bird-like creature.

"Umm, do you need some help, big brother?" Rei asked out of concern.

I need to try doing this by myself, in order to be able to protect Rei, and in order to become someone that can survive in this world.

"No, I will definitely catch that bird!" I was determined to capture that Pidgey no matter how long it takes, "Bubbly, use..."

A thinking went into my mind at that moment, after calling the name 'bubbly' numerous times, "Can you shoot out bubbles?"

Bubbly let out a cry and a slight nod. The intelligence of these creatures sure were amazing.

"Okay, then, bubble!" I commanded.

Bubbly inhaled, and breathed out bubbles from its mouth towards the Pidgey.

"Fill the area around it with those bubbles," I told my squirtle.

Bubbly kept on breathing out bubbles until the area around was filled with countless bubbles.

The Pidgey kept on moving, but its movements were not as fast paced as before, due to the bubbles obstruction as well as the amount of water on its wings when it tore through those bubbles.

"Now then, water gun!" I pointed towards the Pidgey, and bubbly shot out a stream of water.

The pidgey tried to avoid the attack, but it only managed to dodge a tiny bit of the shot.

It fell on the ground, and I threw the pokéball before it had the energy to fly away.

When it's close to the pokémon, the pokéball opened, then the Pidgey was covered in white lights, and the pokéball closed.

But soon after that, it shook a few times on the ground, before a clicking sound can be heard.

"Did I...capture it?" I stared at the pokéball on the ground.

"Of course you did!" Airi tapped my shoulder, "Nice work!"

And she didn't even give me any kind of assistance.

I took the pokéball and pressed the button which caused it to shrunk in size, then put in on my belt clip.

"That was tiring..." I sighed.

"That was awesome, big brother!" Rei looked amazed.

"How was that?" Airi asked.

"Tiring...and you didn't even help me during my first try," I sat down on the field of grasses.

Airi laughed, and said cheerfully, "You need to bond with your pokémon by having it experience things with you, and in your own way!"

I didn't pay much attention to her words and lied down.

"Hey, we still have a forest to walk through, you know?" Airi bend down and told me.

I kind of forgot that because of the fatigue...

"You should have gone out more often, big brother...," Rei said exasperatedly.

I sighed and got up, "Let's go then."

We soon arrived near the gate, and went inside it.

There were several people inside the gate, it consisted of the civilians of Viridian City as well as travelling trainers alike.

We then saw a figure with black colored glasses while walking towards the exit of the gate. He was a boy around my age, with blonde hair. He wore a black jacket with white stripes on the and a pair of trousers in a similar color.

"What am I supposed to do!?" He seemed to be in a panic.

The gate attendant's expression suggested that she had no idea how to deal with that person, "I don't know sir, you should probably go back and search for it."

"I lost my dear Psyduck! Now, where did I drop the pokéball...Please tell me!" The guy said in peril.

" I don't know, sir, try remembering the place you visited before you came here," The gate attendant replied.

"I can't live without my Psyduck! Where is he!?" The blonde guy didn't seem to pay attention and was about to cry.

"Sir, you can't keep on causing a commotion here," The gate attendant told him, "Please try to recall the place you last visited before coming here,"

"Hmm...," He finally paid attention to the gate attendant's words and thought for a moment, "Aha!" He then rushed towards the gate exit, passing us by.

,

"What a weird person...," Rei stated her opinion.

"Haha, what an interesting guy," Airi laughed.

"Whatever," I didn't care about the incident earlier.

We too, exited the gate and arrived at a place filled with trees and tall grasses, it was like a natural maze. The sunlight from the gap between the tree branches illuminated our surroundings slightly.

For some reason, we couldn't see the guy from before. Was it really possible to run that fast?

"Don't you think that we could get lost here really easy?" I stated after looking around.

"Don't worry, even if we get lost, we'll just have to burn this entire forest!" Airi said with fervour.

I hope that she was joking.

Near us, there is a green colored creature with an undefined shape.

"Oh, a Metapod," Airi looked towards the "thing".

"Huh?" Rei didn't understand Airi's words as she seemed not to notice the creature's presence.

"There, beside you," Airi pointed.

Rei looked towards the direction Airi pointed in, and-

"Hyaah!" Rei jumped and clung onto me.

The green colored creature moved around slightly, shaking.

"W-What is that?" Rei had goosebumps.

Airi laughed, "Relax, it's not a harmful one, though it can blow silk from its mouth."

It has a mouth?

"Want to try catching it?" Airi asked with a smile.

Rei shook her head.

"Well, I guess it would be better to catch a Butterfree instead of a Metapod," Airi said another unfamiliar name.

"Butterfree?"

"Yeah, it is the evolution of this Metapod here," Airi answered, "Ah, I haven't told you about Pokémon evolution, huh?"

Hearing the word evolution, I assumed, "So, they can evolve and change shapes or something?"

Airi nodded, "Yes. Some Pokémon can evolve after gaining a certain amount of experience. Though there are some that evolve on its own."

Still, doesn't evolution take quite some time?

"How long is the process of the evolution?" I asked.

"When a Pokémon has enough experience, it will evolve, and the process will take about several seconds before it changed it form," She answered, "Not only that, its abilities as well as skills will change, too. So an evolution can make a Pokémon stronger than before."

An evolution that takes several seconds? This is truly a world of fantasy.

"Oh yeah," Airi then opened her bag and took something out from it, "Here, use this."

She handed me the mosquito repellent I saw in the store before.

"A mosquito repellent?" I looked at the product.

"That's a repel, it will prevent some pokémon from attacking you," Airi closed her bag, "Though it only works on the weaker ones."

We sprayed the repel on ourselves before continuing on walking. Even though we used the repel, I couldn't detect any kind of unpleasant smell around us.

Along the way, we saw a few pokémon that Rei and I were unfamiliar with. There were green colored worm with round, big eyes and brown colored ones with a horn on their head. Airi said that the 'horn' was poisonous, so we kept our distance from them. Airi told us that the green one was called Caterpie, while the other one was Weedle.

We then saw a boy that looked like a bug catcher. He was grabbing his bug-catching net and was looking around, then he saw us.

"Hey, want to have pokémon battle?" He took out his pokéball.

"What?" I couldn't believe that.

A pokémon battle in the middle of the forest?

"Why don't you take him on?" Airi whispered.

"Why should I?" I whispered back, "This is a waste of time, and it's dangerous."

"That's right, it's too sudden...," Rei joined us.

"Come on, he won't use high leveled Pokémon here, plus, it doesn't seem like that he even has one," Airi whispered again.

"I decline," I was prepared to turn the bug catcher down.

"Are you going to battle or not?" The bug-catcher asked again.

"Sorry, but-" I attempted to decline her, but...

"She will take you on!" Airi pushed Rei to the front.

"E-Eh?" Rei was clueless.

I was shocked by her words. Rei? A battle?

"H-Hey, you-" I was about to tell Airi off.

Rei then grabbed my hand, "I-I'll give it a try, big brother!"

Seriously?

"No way, it's going to be dangerous!" I didn't agree with her having a battle.

"Airi-san said that it won't be a dangerous one," Rei said, "And I want to be useful in the future, so..."

I looked at Airi, but she replied me with a happy grin.

I would like to take her place, but I realized that if she has a Pokémon but never goes into a battle, it would be a bit off since Pokémon battles are one of this world's common activities.

So...I decided to let Rei give it a try, and if things get bad, we would admit defeat. Safety is the most important thing here.

"I-I will be doing the battle!" Rei walked to the front.

"Okay, then, I'm finally able to test out this new pokémon of mine," The bug-catcher then prepared to throw his pokéball.

Rei also took out her pokéball while Airi and I kept our distance from the battlers.

"Is this really going to be all right?" I wanted to make sure.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine!" Airi said cheerfully.

Rei and the bug-catcher threw their pokéballs, and each trainer's pokémon appeared.

Rei's Bulbasaur, Bulby, and the bug-catcher's Caterpie.

"Okay, caterpie, use string shot!" The bug-catcher commanded. Silk began appearing from his Caterpie's small mouth, and it blew the silk towards Bulbasaur.

Bulby avoided the string-shot by moving to the right side, "Approach the Caterpie, Bulby!" Rei issued a command.

Bulby did as it was told and rushed towards the bug-catcher's pokémon which are still firing silks. When the distance between them lessened, Rei gave another order, "Use Vine Whip!"

Two vines appeared from Bulby's bud, and stroke the foe's Caterpie in a whip-like manner.

The Caterpie let out a cry of pain before falling into the ground.

Rei's expression was filled with a bit of pain too, probably from seeing the Caterpie got wounded.

"Looks like she can perform better with her pokémon rather than you, Hiro," Airi said to me, in a teasing kind of way.

I ignored her remark and kept on observing the battle.

"Damn it, return, Caterpie!" The bug-catcher returned his pokémon to the pokéball, before taking out another one, "Go, Metapod!"

"Huh?" I responded from hearing the name.

"Haha, there are people using it too, I guess," Airi chuckled.

Metapod appeared from the pokéball, and lied there with slight shaking.

Rei gave out another order, "Again, use Vine Whip!"

"Harden!" The bug-catcher did the same.

When the vines hit the Metapod, it didn't seem to do much damage as the Metapod barely flinched.

"Eh?" Rei was quite surprised by the results.

"Hahaha! Harden increases the defense of the pokémon! That Vine Whip won't do much damage!" The Bug-catcher said triumphantly, "Time for a counterattack! Metapod, tackle!"

The Metapod tried to leap, but it failed. It stood still on the ground without moving much.

...

...

...

" I...lost," The Bug-Catcher knelt down in despair.

Well, that sure was an entertaining battle.

"I won?" Rei questioned herself.

"Uh-huh!" Airi approached Rei with a smile and tapped her shoulder, "You are amazing, Rei!"

Rei smiled in delight, "T-Thank you!"

The bug-catcher returned his Metapod to the pokéball and then took something out of his pocket...Money?

He gave the money to Rei.

"Eh? I-I can't accept this!" Rei tried to decline her reward.

"Just take it, Rei. It's how things work in Pokémon battles, furthermore, it's not that much," Airi said.

"B-But..." Rei was still hesitant to accept it.

"Take it, don't worry, I'm fine with this," The bug-catcher put the money on Rei's hand, "I will keep on training and win!"

Rei seemed to be relieved to hear that, and she also accepted the money, though there were still a bit of hesitation.

The bug-catcher then ran off, and Rei returned Bulby to the pokéball.

"So, how was your first pokémon battle?" Airi asked.

"It was...fine," Rei answered.

"Looks like you don't really like battles that much, huh?" I stated based on the way she answered.

She nodded lightly.

"Well, it takes some time to get used to, just take it easy," Airi smiled.

"Let's continue then, It would be bad to stay in this forest for too long since it's almost dark," I started to walk slowly.

We continued traversing the forest with Airi in lead, and we finally reached another gate after quite a while of exploring.

As we were about to enter the gate, we saw a familiar figure.

It was the blonde guy from earlier.

"Yo, found your pokéball yet?" Airi greeted him without notice.

The guy looked at her, "Oh, you are from the gate earlier!"

He actually remembered.

"I found it! It was on this tree here, I was so worried! Thank goodness I found it before it got taken by someone!" He rubbed his pokéball on his face as if it was a precious treasure.

"Glad to hear that! Losing your pokéball is really troublesome and worrying!" Airi said cheerfully.

"Exactly! I was about to commit suicide when I realized that my Psyduck was gone!" The guy then laughed.

Seriously?

We went inside the gate with Airi and the guy talking happily.

,

"I'm Tsumura Kin, just call me Kin!" He introduced himself, "I plan to become to Pokémon Champion with my Psyduck!"

Another trainer wanting to become a Pokémon Champion, I see.

"So, are you all heading to Pewter City?" He asked.

"That's right, we plan to challenge the gym over there," Airi answered.

"I see... Good luck with that! I just got the boulder-badge a few days ago, you see," He showed us an Octagon-shaped, gray-colored badge pinned on his shirt behind the jacket.

"Awesome! We will definitely get that too!" Airi responded with enthusiasm.

I didn't understand what was this all about, of course.

"Right? My Psyduck and I can conquer anything!" Kin boasted with confidence, "Oh, I've got to go now, good luck on challenging the gym!"

Both Airi and Kin waved their hands towards each other, and he exited the gate.

"so, what was this gym-thing all about?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you about it," Airi said.

How many things did she forget to explain?

We sat down on the seats available in the gateway, "You see, in order to become a Pokémon Champion, you have to beat the Elite Four in the Pokémon League, and to gain access, you need to have all eight badges in Kanto," Airi stated, "And in order to get one, the gym leader in each gym must be defeated."

"So that's how it is...," I managed to grasp the purpose of the gym battles.

"Gyms are located in certain towns or cities in the Kanto Region, and the place that we are going to visit, which is Pewter City, has one gym stationed there," Airi explained, "Also, the gym leaders are undoubtedly, experts in pokémon battles."

"How are you going to win against the experts?" I asked. Winning against experts are certainly not easy, and there are eight of them here.

"Usually, the gym leaders wouldn't beat you mercilessly, they battle according to the opponent's skill as well pokémon. So, you can say that they will not use their best pokémon unless it is necessary. Still, skills are needed in order to win," Airi said.

"Well, good luck then," I stood up.

"What do you mean?" Airi also stood up.

"Good luck on challenging the gym leaders," I looked at her.

"You are going to challenge them too, you know?" Airi said.

Eh?

"It wouldn't be fun if I'm the only one," Airi stated, "Besides, don't you want to be strong so that you can protect Rei?"

"Well, yes, but-" That was too sudden. Me battling against experts?

She then took my wrist , "Then gym battles are the way to go!" She dragged me along with her other arm punching the air, "Let's get the boulder-badge!"

The three of us walked towards the exit of the gate with Airi dragging me along with her.

Our next destination is The City between Rugged Mountains, Pewter City.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed chapter 5! I would like to say thank you for all the feedback as they really motivated me to continue this. Please tell me your opinions regarding this chapter by leaving a review or message, and stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	6. Pewter Incidents

Hello again! Because I'm quite busy these days, I didn't have much time to update the story...But now, chapter six is here! The length itself is longer than the previous chapters, too, as there are quite a few things happening in this chapter. Before reading, I would like to inform you that I will be using Japanese names for the characters in the Pokémon Universe, though you might have realized because I used the name Professor Okido instead of Professor Oak. For those that didn't know, here are some information regarding the names in this chapter: Takeshi = Brock, Sakaki = Giovanni. Also, I couldn't use the abbreviation for Mount Moon (It wouldn't appear in the fic), so I had to go with Mount Moon instead of its abbreviation.

Now please read and enjoy!

* * *

After a short walk, we reached the city where the first gym leader resided, Pewter City.

Apparently, it was surrounded by caves and mountains, there were also quite an amount of greeneries there. It truly was a city between rugged mountains.

"Come to think of it, it's almost dark," I realized that the sun was setting.

"What about it?" Airi wondered.

I looked towards her, "Where are we going to sleep?"

She grinned happily, and opened her bag, "I brought these!"

Airi took out a few sleeping bags...Seriously? We are going to sleep in those?

"Umm, this is a city, you know," I pointed that out in case she didn't realize it.

Airi put the sleeping bags back, "I know."

"So..Aren't there any hotels of some sort?" I said.

Why do we need to sleep in sleeping bags when we're in the city? Are we going to sleep at the roadside or something? There's no way I'm going to do so.

"Don't know. Even if there is one, it would cost quite an amount of money," Airi then continued walking.

So, she wanted to save money?

"Can't we fly back to your house and sleep there?" I threw another option at her.

Without a doubt, it would certainly be better to sleep at her house and fly back tomorrow morning as the distance between Pallet Town and Pewter City was not that far. Surely, this had got to be one of the better options available, and therefore, there's no way that it would be-

"Nope," She replied, immediately.

I didn't understand how the mind of this girl worked.

"M-May I know the reason why you declined?" I said, demanding an explanation.

"Sleeping inside sleeping bags have a more adventure-like feeling to it, don't you think?" She said happily.

...

"Rei, are you fine with sleeping bags?" I asked.

"I-I'm fine," She nodded with a smile, knowing that's the only choice we had.

,

I slowly opened my eyes, and the bright light of the sun greeted me. We were at the little grass field in Pewter City,beside the Pewter Museum of Science.

Based on what Airi told me, that museum featured several historical artifacts, Pokémon Fossils, and even a Space Shuttle Model. Though, I have no interest for such things.

I got out of the sleeping bags Airi had prepared for us, and proceeded to wake Rei up.

"Wake up, it's morning already," I said to her in a light tone, to which she responded by opening her eyes.

And then there's one more person...

"Flamby, flamethrower..." She mumbled to herself.

I've never seen people doing that in real life before...

I walked towards her and shook her body lightly, "Wake up,It's morning."

"Mmm...Five more minutes," She said while still closing her eyes.

Typical reply of people when they're being woken up.

I shook her more, but she still slept.

"Take this, and this, Team Rocket..." She mumbled again.

"Wake up already," I said while still shaking her.

Did she just say Team Rocket? Well, I didn't care about that and kept on trying to wake her up.

"That's it, kneel before me..." Again with another one.

...she's hopeless.

I took out one of my Pokéballs and threw it lightly.

"Umm...Big brother, do you plan to..." Rei responded after Bubbly appeared.

"Wake her up, of course," I smiled a bit, "Bubbly, water gun."

A stream of water was shot towards Airi's face, causing her to open her eyes in no time.

She sat up and coughed a bit, "What are you doing!?"

I looked away from her, "You refused to wake up, so-"

"You could've woken me up in a normal way!" She tried rubbing the water off her face.

"I did, and you still kept on sleeping," I said while returning Bubbly to the Pokéball.

"That's right, Airi-san," Rei supported.

"...Well, anyway, let's get going," Airi stood up and picked up the sleeping bags with her hair wet.

"Airi-san?" Rei called out.

"What is it?" She put the sleeping bags back.

"Where are we going to take a bath?" Rei asked something that I actually had forgotten about.

"Ah..."

Seemed like I was not the only one...

,

"Sorry for intruding like this," Rei said apologetically.

The woman waved her hand with a smile, not minding our sudden intrusion, "No problem, no problem."

Apparently, Airi asked a random citizen to let us borrowing the bathroom for a while, saying that we are travelling trainers, and she's currently taking a bath.

"Do you plan on challenging Takeshi-san?" The woman questioned.

"Takeshi-san?" I asked after hearing the unfamiliar name.

"Yes, he is the gym leader of this city," She said.

"I see," I nodded, "We do plan on obtaining the Boulder Badge.

Still smiling, the woman said, "Good luck with that."

Moments after, Airi got out of the bath, scrubbing her hair with a towel.

"Thanks a lot for the bath!" She said with a happy grin, to which the woman responded with a nod.

It's Rei's turn next, so she went inside the bathroom with the change of clothes.

Airi did her hair in a flash and sat down with us.

"Have you taken a look inside the museum?" The woman started a topic, "It's Pewter's main attraction."

"Well, I don't really like those scientific explanations about fossils, artifacts and such," Airi said. At last, something I can agree with.

"I see," The woman then sipped a cup of tea that was on the table.

"Is Takeshi-san at the gym right now?" Airi asked.

The woman put the cup of tea on the table and said, "Usually, yes."

"Usually?"

"Yes, sometimes he went to to dig for fossils, but..." She then stopped.

"But what?" Airi persisted on knowing.

"But recently, there have been some weird people in Mount Moon, stealing fossils from the diggers, and even prohibiting them from digging," The woman stated.

"Weird people?" I was curious regarding that phrase.

The woman kept silent for a brief moment, "They call themselves Team Rocket."

Team Rocket? Airi said those words earlier this morning...

I looked towards Airi, "Hey, earlier this morni-"

Before I finished my sentence, Airi stood up.

"Huh?" I was a bit surprised.

"They are at Mount Moon, right?" Airi asked for confirmation.

"Yes, people kept on reporting seeing them in Mount Moon. Takeshi-san drove them away the other day, but they kept on coming," The woman said.

"After we're done here, let's go to Mount Moon," Airi looked towards me with a serious expression, different from her usual cheerful ones.

"Well, I'm fine with it, but, would you mind explaining to me regarding this 'Team Rocket'?" I still didn't fully understand the situation here.

Was Team Rocket some kind of organization? Judging from the name, they seemed to be one, and from the woman's statements, they definitely wasn't a nice, acknowledged organization. Also, their name sounded like an organization from an anime directed towards the kids.

But still, I didn't know anything.

"Well, I also didn't know much about them...I only heard that they have been causing all sorts of troubles in various cities," The woman stated.

Airi sat down, and still with a serious expression, she said, "Then, I will explain to you what Team Rocket really is."

,

"Team Rocket is an organization that view Pokémon as a kind of tool, to make money, to threaten people, to help them achieve their goal," Airi stated, "They will do anything to achieve their motives, including abusing Pokémon, selling them, and even commit murder."

Hearing that one word, I couldn't help but to think that the name 'Team Rocket' shouldn't be laughed upon. Murder is pretty common in the news, but still...it is something that people couldn't get used to hearing easily.

"Usually, they would steal Pokémon or other valuable things to sell them for money, their ultimate goal is to dominate the world by exploiting Pokémon," Airi explained, "and they are led by one man, by the name Sakaki."

When she said that, her tone seemed to be bearing grudges and hatred. Still, I didn't pursue the issue further.

"The police should knew about them, right?" I wondered.

If it's a large scale organization, they should be pretty famous, especially around the police forces.

Airi then sighed, "They do, but some couldn't do anything to stop their activities, and for some reason, there are some which didn't provide any significant efforts in arresting them."

So basically, some of the police forces were 'silenced' and had their activities 'halted' through bribery of some sort. Can I call that a smart move?

Anyway, it seemed that no matter what kind of world we are in, there are always things like this, whether it's in a large scale or not.

"Besides, they do their main activities in secret, so there really isn't much the police forces can do," Airi said with a disappointed face.

"Umm...So you are saying that we should deal with those people later?" I asked.

We were nothing but novice travelling trainers. Well, maybe Airi had some experiences regarding travels and battles, but Rei and myself were complete amateurs. How could we deal with a large organization with professionally trained members and a huge political power? We would be killed off in an instant.

Airi responded my question with a light nod, though, it's not really that surprising.

"Sorry, but I refuse to do so." I waved my hand.

"Eh? Why?" She seemed to be a bit taken aback.

"Isn't it obvious? There's no way we can defeat such a syndicate." I said calmly, "Just let the police handle them."

"But the police won't be able to do much against them!" She knew this already.

"Then, there are the gym leaders. They should be able to do something right? Being chosen as gym leaders mean that they also have some kind of responsibility in taking care of peace," A sudden statement arrived on my mind.

"But-" Airi kept on insisting.

She didn't finish her sentence, but instead said, "I'll go there alone if you don't want to go there."

Now that was ridiculous.

"How could I let you go there all by yourself!? Even if you are proficient in battling, taking on them is just-" I couldn't stand this girl's way of thinking.

"But I couldn't just ignore it when there's a chance to-" She exclaimed halfway, and paused.

"Never mind. Anyway, we have to go there to continue our journey, and fly is off-limits." She said.

Okay, so we would have to go through there no matter what. This girl is probably the most obstinate girl I have ever met in my life.

"I'll go out for a bit," She stood up.

"Where are you going?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, I won't go to Mount Moon all by myself," She then opened the door and went outside.

"_What's wrong with her today?" _I thought to myself.

"Sorry for the ruckus earlier," I apologized to the house owner, and she said it's fine, as expected.

"Big brother, I'm done!" Rei came out after taking the bath. What a timing.

She looked around , and asked, "Huh? Where's Airi-san?"

"She said that she wanted to go outside for a bit," I said to her.

Being the last, I took my bath without idling around and when I was done, Airi hadn't returned.

We waited for a while and decided to leave the household since Airi didn't come back.

After bidding farewell to the house owner, we looked around the city in search for Airi, but she was nowhere to be found.

We then decided to go to the museum and looked around, and I explained a bit about Team Rocket to Rei along the way.

I had to pay 100 PokéDollar for our entrance. Good thing I asked for a little bit of money from Airi. Still, I need to pay her some other time.

As expected, inside, there were fossil exhibits.

Well, other than brief admiration of those exhibits, there were really nothing much that piqued my interest, though Rei seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Look at this, big brother!" Rei called me to the front of a fossil exhibit.

"Doesn't this look cool? It looks like a dragon!" Rei said energetically.

Certainly, the fossil's skeleton had a dragon-like feel to it, and it had a triangular spade tipped tail. Those figures alone were enough to make it look appealing.

We then looked around for a little while, and continued on to the second floor where we saw a figure of a person that we had been looking around for.

"As expected, nothing interesting enough here," She scratched her head, "Aah, I shouldn't have been all emotional earlier!"

"Airi?" I called her name.

"Hm?" She turned around towards the direction where the voice came from, "Hiro...and Rei?"

,

"So, Takeshi-san drove Team Rocket away again?" We were walking towards the gym.

"Yeah, though they might come here again, for now, it's fine," Airi said while putting her arms behind her head.

Apparently, she met Pewter City's gym leader when she was strolling around.

We then arrived at the gym's front. It was a building with a brown roof, gray walls along with windows, and an automatic door. There was also the iconic Pokéball logo just above the door.

Just when we stepped inside, we were greeted with a girl and a boy.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym!" The girl said with a smile.

"Would you like to challenge for the Boulder Badge?" The boy questioned.

"Yes! Where is the leader?" Airi asked right away.

"Before going in to face Takeshi-san you'll need to battle either of us first!" The Girl said cheerfully.

"Eeh? How troublesome..." Airi complained.

"I thought you knew the basic rules of the gyms," I whispered to her.

"Well...It couldn't be helped, I guess, haha..." She laughed it off.

,

Airi and the boy stood at each sides of the 'arena' inside the gym, and prepared to throw their pokéballs.

Before that, all of our Pokémon were attached a kind of small strap to detect their health condition during the battle. We were told that soon, there would be sensors that have similar functions, and can be attached on the roof or the other parts of the room. With those, those straps were no longer necessary.

"All right, go, Slashy!" Airi threw her pokéball, along with the other trainer.

A creature with shar, brown quills on its back as well as large claws appeared from Airi's pokéball.

From the boy's pokéball, a creature without any legs, only two arms attached on its 'head' which is the only part of its body emerged. The boy called it a Geodude.

"Geodude, use rock throw!" The boy commanded.

The Geodude punched the ground, causing a few small rocks to sprung up, and threw them.

Airi's Slashy avoided those rocks easily, and approached the boy's Geodude.

"Geodude, magnitude!" The boy issued another command, and his Geodude then leaped upwards, before landing, causing slight tremors on the ground.

Slashy jumped to avoid the attack, and...

"Slashy, Crush Claw!" Airi told the creature.

Slashy stroke the foe's Geodude with a slash by using its giant claws, and the bar beneath the picture of the Geodude depleted completely.

The strange thing was, I though normal types won't work against rock types? Airi explained to me regarding type match up before we sleep yesterday...But Slashy managed to defeat that Geodude in one attack.

"It's experience, of course," Airi tapped my back.

"Eh?" I didn't even realize that the battle was already over.

"The more your Pokémon battles, the stronger it gets," She said.

"Now it's your turn, do your best!" She pushed me forward.

The girl was standing at the arena already.

I went to the other side of it, and took out my pokéball.

"Best of luck to both of us!" She said with a smile. Well, at least that had reduced my nervousness.

"I'll leave it to you, Bubbly!" I threw my pokéball, and the girl did the same.

Bubbly appeared, along with the same creature as the boy's, a Geodude.

"Geodude, use magnitude!"

Tremors can be felt on the ground. I remembered the way Airi avoided the attack, so...

"Bubbly, jump!" I told my Squirtle.

Bubbly jumped, though when it landed, the tremor can still be felt, which caused Bubbly to lose its balance a bit and slowed it down.

"Now, Rock Throw!" The girls issued another command.

Small rocks were threw towards Bubbly, and one managed to hit it.

Bubbly let out a cry and fell on its knee.

"_The differences between Bubbly and Slashy in terms of experience sure is visible here," _I thought.

"Run towards it, Bubbly!"

Hearing my command, Bubbly rushed towards the Geodude, and a few more rocks were thrown again.

"Water gun!" I ordered.

A forceful shot of water was shot from Bubbly's mouth, stopping the rocks in their tracks and hit the girl's Geodude.

The bar of it also depleted to zero, probably because of the water gun which was super effective towards the Geodude.

"You did it, big brother!" Rei jumped up with joy in celebration to my victory.

"Nice move!" Airi gave a thumbs up.

,

"We lost..." The boy and girl said in unison.

"Now, we can face the leader, right?" Airi asked in anticipation.

"Certainly, Takeshi-san will be here in a moment," The girl said.

After a few minutes, a door behind the 'arena' opened, and there, stood a man with spiky hair and a nearly closed eyes, if not closed.

"I'm here, Takeshi-san!" Airi pointed her pokéball at him.

" I know, let us begin."

,

"Judging from your performance earlier, I shall use these two," Takeshi took two pokéballs from a tray on the wall.

"Bring it on!" Airi challenged.

When the two were ready, they both threw their pokéballs.

From Airi's pokéball, Slashy emerged, while from Takeshi's pokéball, a creature that he called Graveler appeared.

"Slashy, sand attack!" Airi ordered.

Slashy slashed the soil covered arena in an upward motion, resulting in sands hurled towards the Graveler.

"Now, dig!"

Slashy dug the ground in a lightning fast speed.

"That won't work, Earthquake!" Takeshi had a command of his own.

A larger tremor can be felt on the ground, bigger than those from earlier, and through the screen, Slashy's health bar had been depleted to zero.

Slashy then emerged from the ground and fainted shortly after.

Airi returned Slashy to the pokéball, and took out another one.

"Mushy, take him out!" She said as she threw her pokéball.

That had got to be the stupidest nickname ever. I mean, Mushy? I couldn't help but thinking that the Pokémon was a weak little insect or something.

And I was half-right, it was a crab with a large mushroom on its back.

"Poison powder!" A cloud of purple-colored gases appeared from the large mushroom, and covered the Graveler.

"Rollout, Graveler!" Takeshi swung his arm to the side along with the command.

Among the seemingly poisonous cloud of gases, Graveler rolled and was aimed towards Mushy, only to miss its target and collided into a boulder nearby.

"That Sand attack from earlier, huh? Not bad..." Takeshi smiled slightly.

"Now, Giga Drain!" Airi pointed towards the Graveler.

Mushy then pinched one of Graveler's arms, and the pincer was glowing in green. The Graveler was getting physically weaker and weaker, to which it led to its health bar being reduced to zero.

"Nice," Takeshi returned Graveler to the pokéball, "But, can you handle this one!?" He then threw another.

From the pokéball, a giant chain of rock-hard boulders with a pointing stone "horn" on its head emerged.

"Onix, huh..." Airi thought for a few seconds, before returning Mushy to the pokéball.

She then threw the other pokéball of hers, and from there, a sight that still managed to amaze me was shown. From the pokéball, a lizard with a flaming tail appeared, along with a magnificent roar.

"Flamby, smokescreen!" The Charizard then flew and released a large amount of smokes from its nose. Well, that was quite a unique move for me.

The smoke covered the area around Takeshi-san's Onix, decreasing its area of sight.

"Metal Claw!"

Hearing the order, Flamby dove into the clouds of smoke with its claws preparing to slash its target.

A kind of cry can be heard, and Onix's health bar was decreased by half. It looked like that a critical hit occured.

Flamby then emerged from the smokes and landed.

"How's that?" Airi puched the air with her fist.

"Good one, though my Onix won't fall just from that," Takeshi smiled.

"Onix, slam!" From the clearing smokes, a lightning-fast tail made of boulders appeared and stroke Flamby with all its might, sending it flying and colliding onto another boulder.

Flamby lost a quarter of its health according to the screen.

"Stand up, Flamby!" Airi shouted, and Flamby did as it was told, standing on its two feet with minor bruises on its body.

"Rock Tomb!"

A huge boulder was thrown towards Flamby, but Airi's Charizard avoided it by flying to the air.

"Again, slam!"

However, it was greeted by another strike of the tail made out of boulders, making it fell down right onto the ground.

Two more hits by that, and Flamby would lose.

"Tch, Flamby, use Scary face!" Airi issued.

Flamby's eyes turned bloody red, and Takeshi-san's Onix seemed to be taking a step back.

"Charge to the front!" Airi pointed her finger towards the gym leader's Onix.

Flamby flapped his wings and flew in a low level towards the Onix, with a speed as if it was a homing missile.

"Slam!" Takeshi ordered his Onix.

Onix moved its large boulder tail towards Flamby, but Flamby avoided it with ease.

"Metal Claw!"

"Slam!"

Now with a quarter of health left in the healt bar, Onix once again swung its tail, but again, Flamby avoided it, though barely, and kept a close range with the giant beast.

"Give it the third Metal Claw!"

The Charizard's claws were shining with power, and it slashed Onix with such a force, it depleted Onix's health bar completely.

Airi was victorious.

"You did it, Flamby!" She jumped with her arms high, absorbed in the joy in defeating a gym leader.

She then ran towards Flamby and actually hugged it like it was a giant doll. Flamby responded with a growl of victory, as if it was celebrating the victory with its master.

,

"Here's the Boulder badge, good work!" Takeshi handed a octagonal, grey-colored badge to Airi.

"Ooh! Thank you very much!" She accepted with a big smile.

"Congratulations, Airi-san!" Rei was happy with her victory.

Though, I didn't know if I can beat Takeshi-san after seeing all that...

"You are the next challenger, correct?" Takeshi spoke.

I lifted my head and looked towards him, "Y-Yes..."

,

We walked out from the Pewter City Gym with Airi kept on staring at her new badge.

"You sure look happy," I said.

She pinned the badge on her shirt beneath the jacket, and spun facing me, "Of course I am! This is my first gym badge!"

"Still, that's an amazing performance for your first gym badge," I turned away.

"I said I had been doing a lot of battling, didn't I? Those are certainly beneficial!" She kept on speaking with a joyful expression.

"Still, I can't believe I have to come here again later..." I sighed.

"Takeshi-san said that his Pokémon needed a bit of rest, after all," Rei said while keeping up with my walking speed.

"Guess I'll just wait until the time comes..."

,

I couldn't believe how quick time passes.

In front of me, there was the gym leader of Pewter City, Takeshi.

"Are you ready?" Takeshi asked.

"Yes," I nodded lightly in response.

We both then took out and threw our pokéballs, starting the second gym battle in Pewter City on that day.

Before my Pidgey was a creature I had seen many times, Geodude.

"Pidgey, use quick attack!" I commanded.

Pidgey flew towards the Geodude in a speed so quick that the Geodude barely had a time to react, and landed it with a quick stroke with its small beak.

Though judging from the damage, I would have to do that around twenty more times to defeat that Geodude. How could I forgot about this type matchup?

"Geodude, rock throw!"

A few rocks landed on Pidgey, causing it to be inches away from fainting.

"Return, Pidgey!" I returned Pidgey to my pokéball, and threw another one.

Bubbly appeared, and a few more rocks were thrown towards it.

"Withdraw!"

Bubbly hid in its hard, brown shell which shielded it from the rocks.

"Water gun!" Bubbly then got out from its shell and shot a stream of water towards the Geodude which caused it to faint.

I was having the type advantage as water moves were super effective against rock and ground types. Though I couldn't take it easy as I was battling a gym leader.

Takeshi-san returned Geodude to his pokéball, and took out another one immediately.

"Now it's your turn to face this. Go, Onix!" He threw the pokéball, and as anyone might have guessed, its the large, snake-like creature made of boulders.

I returned Bubbly to the pokéball, and called out Pidgey once more.

"So, you decided to damage Onix a bit before sacrificing your Pidgey?" Takeshi said, "That might not be a good move."

"You'll see," I said in response.

I decided to take a bit of a risk. Though it might not play out well, I had to try it to increase my chance of winning.

"Pidgey, sand attack!"

Pidgey flapped its wings, resulting in sands reducing the Onix's accuracy.

Onix used Rock Tomb, but my Pidgey managed to avoid the attack, so I ordered it to use yet another sand attack.

Due to their now close proximity, Onix used slam instead of rock tomb, but again, Pidgey managed to dodge the attack, and I used the third and last sand attack before returning it to my pokéball.

" I see, so that's what you are aiming for," Takeshi said with a bit of a smile, "Quite a risk taker."

"Well, I got lucky in the end, though," I threw the pokéball containing Bubbly, and ordered it to use water gun.

The attack landed on Onix's large body, decreasing half of its health bar.

"Slam!"

"Withdraw!"

Onix slammed its tail, sending Bubbly, which was inside its shell, upwards and took quite a damage, which was half of its health bar.

That attack actually did so much damage even when I used withdraw...

"Looks like just one more attack could decide the winner of this battle," Takeshi put on a determined look.

"Yeah...let's see who will emerge victorious."

...

"You can do it, big brother!" Rei cheered from the arena sides. Even though that didn't help the battle to go in my favour, her words had certainly reduced my nervousness.

"Onix, Rock Tomb!" Takeshi issued the command.

Rocks were thrown towards my Squirtle, but they missed their target.

Just when Bubbly moved to the sides, however, I could see Onix preparing to slam its hard tail.

"Move to the right side instead, Bubbly!" I exclaimed, hoping that the attack wouldn't connect.

Squrtle moved to the other side, and I was right. Onix used slam on that direction.

"Kuh!" Takeshi realized that Bubbly managed to avoid an attack that will cause it to lose the match.

"Now, water gun!"

Bubbly opened its mouth and used the move that would defeat the Onix of Pewter's gym leader.

Onix was struck with the shot of water, and collapsed onto the ground.

,

"Wooh! Awesome move, Hiro!" Airi shouted.

Rei did the same, "You are so cool, big brother!"

I managed to win...against a gym leader. Of course, I felt joy at that moment, even if I won out of luck.

Takeshi-san returned Onix to the pokéball, and approached me, "I couldn't believe I lost two gym challenges in a day, haha."

He took my hand, and gave me an object which Airi had obtained earlier, the boulder badge.

"Congratulations," He said with a satisfied expression.

"Yeah, thank you."

,

It's the next morning after we managed to obtain the boulder badge. We were walking at route three, and I caught a male Nidoran along the way.

Also, Bubbly evolved shortly after the battle with Takeshi, into a Wartortle. Though it would still be called Bubbly. Of course, I was surprised by the sudden evolution, and still couldn't believe that kind of evolution actually existed. Well, this was a different world, after all.

Right now, I was catching a pokémon with that looked like a ball with short arms and legs. It also had large, blue eyes. According to Airi, it was a Jigglypuff.

Usually, I wouldn't be bothered to deal with something like this, but Rei seemed happy when seeing this Pokémon, so...

"Double kick!" Nidoran then leaped up and landed two kicks on the round creature.

I proceeded to throw the pokéball, and surprisingly, it was caught. It looked like that Jigglypuff didn't put up too much of a resistance.

I picked up the pokéball and returned Nidoran to my own, then approached Rei.

"This is for you," I gave her the pokéball containing the newly caught Jigglypuff.

She had a dumbfounded expression, "Eh? Really?"

"Of course, that one doesn't really suit me, so..." I looked away from her. I just couldn't look at her current expression.

"Thank you, big brother!" She proceeded to hug me.

I wan't really used to these kind of things...

"N-No problem..." I couldn't do anything except waiting for her to let go.

Rei looked happy, but I didn't think that capture of a Jigglypuff was enough for me to amend all the ignoring I gave her all the time when we were in our world...Still, if she was happy, that's fine.

"We should take it to a Pokémon Centre," Rei said while looking at the pokéball.

"Well, there is one nearby, just by the entrance of ," The active Airi finally spoke.

"I forgot that you're even here," I said while turning towards her.

"Well, I didn't want to disturb the rare siblings moment of you two!" She said with a cheerful grin.

...I didn't know what to respond, so I kept quiet and kept on walking, while the two girls smiled at each other.

,

Getting out of the Pokémon Centre, we then prepared to enter Mount Moon. It was said that meteors often fall here, and there were several fossils inside the cave. Just when we were about the enter the cave, however, a girl was blocking the entrance.

She was a girl with light blue hair, tied in twintails with two small white colored ribbons. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt in a similar color to her hair, with white shorts and knee length socks along with light blue boots.

For some reason, she kept staring at the entrance.

"Umm...Do you plan to go in?" I asked after a few minutes of waiting for her to move.

She turned around, and her blue eyes met mine, "Of course I'm going in! Why am I standing here if didn't want to go in there?"

"Then, can you please go inside already? We want to get through here too, you know..." I said.

She seemed to hear us, and took a step inside the cave, but then she went back a step again.

"What are you doing?" I asked, wondering what might she be planning to do.

She turned around again, and said, "I'll let you go in first."

Okay?

We went inside , and the girl followed us.

Inside the cave, it was quite dark, but we could still see our surroundings. I didn't expect a place like this to be as bright as the outside anyway.

We kept on walking with Rei holding my arm and Airi at the front. For some reason, the girl increased her speed so she was walking beside me at the moment.

...

"Why are you being so close with me?" I questioned.

"I-It's none of your business!" She said, while kept on looking around the cave.

After only around a minute of walking, we can hear some weird noises coming from the top of the cave, and moments after, there were several creatures above us.

"Hyaah!" The two girls beside me screamed in unison, and clung onto my arms.

"Haha, those Zubat sure are energetic!" Airi laughed them off.

After the sounds were gone, the girl in twintails let go of my arm, and exclaimed with her face red, "D-Don't cling onto me, you pervert!"

I was pretty sure that I didn't cling onto her. Rather, it was the other way around.

I looked at the girl, and asked, "Are you, by any chance, not good with caves?"

"I-I'm perfectly fine with caves! It's not like I'm afraid of dark places or anything!" She brushed her hand, denying my statement.

I heard those kinds of words quite often in romance ani-

"Heey, if you guys keep on talking, I'll be going on ahead all by myself, you know," Airi was walking quite far ahead already.

"Come on, let us go!" The girl in twintails walk passed me and when she was about 6 meters away, she returned with fast steps.

"Can't you go any faster!?" She shouted at me.

By seeing her behaviors, I was pretty sure that anyone would be able to tell what's wrong with her.

I sighed, and continued walking with the girl now beside me again. Looks like going through Mount Moon would be quite troublesome.

,

That moment was the first time we met her, and it was definitely not the only time.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed chapter six! Again, please tell me your opinions by either reviewing or through messages as they really motivate me to continue this! :D


	7. Cave Experience

We were in the middle of advancing through the cave at Mount Moon. There were a few trainers who challenged us to battle, but Airi defeated a few of them easily, and I managed to win from two trainers.

"Is the exit still far?" I asked while walking in a steady pace.

"No idea, I have never passed through Mount Moon on foot before," She answered without turning back.

I sighed, thinking that there might be a possibility that we would get lost in the cave. However, judging form the current condition of the cave, that was probably unlikely as there are a few trainers in the cave earlier, and the structure of the cave itself wasn't really complicated, and we could still see quite well.

We walked and walked. Only footsteps and other trivial sounds could be heard, and I had to say, the silence was uncomfortable.

"Could someone please say something?" I broke the silence, having had enough of the unnerving silence.

Rei was still holding my hand, though she looked towards me and said, "Uh...I don't really have anything to say right now."

"Do you think that we might have gotten lost?" Airi turned towards us and said.

Hearing that, I was startled a bit, but I didn't let that expression show on my face. I proceeded by responding, " I know you are joking...I'd prefer it if you keep on walking instead of saying those things."

"Ahaha, if that's what you want," She turned back and started walking again.

We then started walking with Airi in lead like before, and the silence returned.

I really need to start talking about something...

I turned towards my left, and saw the girl in twintails. She had been surprisingly quiet for a while now, and she wore a white-short sleeved jacket. Apparently, she said the cave was cold.

Come to think of it, we still didn't know her name...

"Hey," I called out to her.

"What is it, you pervert?" She said without looking at me.

I ignored the last part of her sentence, and asked her, "What is your name?"

"W-Why do you want to know my name!?" She stared at me with a flustered face.

"Eh?" I looked at her with confusion, "Is it that strange for me to ask a name of somebody?"

"Maybe you did it too suddenly, big brother..." Rei said.

Really? That mattered?

"Well, it's fine if you don't want to tell us," I shrugged and kept on walking.

"I-I'm not that stingy!" She said, " Nishikawa...Izumi."

"Fujimaki Hiro here, nice to meet you, " I stretched out my hand, expecting a handshake.

Her hand approached mine, and when it was near enough though, it slapped mine.

"Why did you do that!?" I shook my hand due to the slight pain.

"What? Are you expecting me to shake your perverted hand?" She then looked away in an arrogant manner.

Seriously, I didn't get this girl at all.

Rei and Airi also introduced themselves, though the girl didn't really respond to their introductions.

,

We continued progressing through the cave, and we could feel a tremor on the ground.

"What the- is the cave collapsing or something!?" Fear then rushed to my mind. If the cave collapsed, we would have a really hard time, or even never, get out of this cave.

Still, even those were better than being buried to death by the collapsing cave.

I held Rei tightly, while hoping that nothing bad would happen.

Nishikawa was still beside me, while Airi didn't to be frightened one bit.

I could sense something coming towards us from the ground. What was it? An underground travelling creature?

The tremor was getting stronger, and I was sure that it would be better to get away from our current standing spot.

"Come over here!" Airi signaled, and that made me certain that something was definitely going to happen at that spot.

"We shouldn't stand here!" I pulled Nishikawa with Rei holding onto my hand, and rushed towards where Airi was.

"Hyaah!" Nishikawa was startled due to the sudden actions, "D-Don't pull me that hard!"

"Whatever, just keep up with our pace!" I continued to run towards Airi.

Before we could reach Airi however, something emerged from the ground, at the spot where we were standing earlier. Its emergence was followed by a stronger tremor and a few rocks flying, causing us to fall down.

I looked behind, and found a creature that I have seen before. It was an...Onix.

We were stunned to see the large beast appearing in the middle of our walk through the cave. Its body in the form of a giant chain of boulders look as tough as ever, with its eyes glaring towards us.

"Oooh, An Onix! How rare!" Airi's eyes were beamed with excitement the moment she saw the emergence of it.

The Onix then returned underground and kept on tunneling.

"Eh!? I still haven't caught you yet!" She stretched out her hand as if wanting to stop it from going away, but of course, it still went underground.

I sighed out of relied, "That was close..." and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Are you all right, Rei?" I gave her my hand.

"Yes, I'm fine..." She then stood up with my help, and wiped the dust off her clothing.

"Ouch..."

Nishikawa was rubbing her head, maybe she got knocked onto the cave walls or something.

I approached her and was prepared to lend her a hand in standing up, but...

"I'm fine! I'll be fine even if you didn't do anything back there..." She then got up on her own.

What a rude girl...

"Aagh! I missed the chance to catch that Onix!" Airi scratched her head in frustration.

"Is it that rare for an Onix to appear here?" I walked towards Airi with the two girls behind me.

"I don't really know much about it, but Onix are quite rare. Not only here, but other places as well," Airi said, "Well, nothing can be done about it...let's continue!"

,

After a while of exploring, we finally saw light coming from something that seemed to be the exit.

"Ah, we found it!" Airi pointed towards the light.

Gladness filled our faces as we approached the exit, and finally, we got out of the confusing cave.

"Finally..." I sat down on the ground, exhausted.

Outside, we were greeted by greens. Soft grasses, trees, flowers.

"It feels peaceful..." Rei looked around.

"This is route four, and we are pretty near Cerulean City," Airi said.

We prepared to go to the city, but Nishikawa seemed to be anxious over something.

"What are you doing?" I approached her and asked.

She kept on rubbing her belt clip as if searching for an object. It must be a pokéball.

"It's not here..." She murmured.

I tilted my head in confusion, "Huh?"

"It's gone!" She cried out.

"What's the matter, big brother?" Rei walked towards me, with Airi behind her.

" No idea," I shrugged, and said, "Did you lose your pokéball or something?"

Nishikawa nodded frantically, and it was followed by a ridiculous statement.

"It is your fault!" She pointed her finger at me, "Take responsibility!"

This girl was so...

"Why am I supposed to take responsibility? It's not my fault in the first place!" I said in frustration.

"If you hadn't pulled me earlier, I wouldn't have dropped it!"

"If I didn't do that, you might have gotten injured!"

"I won't! It's all your fault!"

The conversation wouldn't end if we kept on arguing. Even if I'm fed up with her, I have to do her bidding so that she could stop whining.

I sighed, "Whatever...I'll go back and look for it..."

"Guess we'll have to go too, then," Airi the walked towards the cave.

"It's fine, you all can go to the city first, it won't take long anyway," I said approached the cave.

So, I had to go through this cave again even though I was already exhausted enough.

"But, big brother, you might-"

"I'll be fine."

Rei was concerned, but was cut off by me myself.

"I-I'll go with you," Nishikawa volunteered, though she was the one that 'ordered' me to go inside. Maybe she felt a bit of responsibility too.

"Well, guess we'll wait here then. It would be unhealthy for Rei to stay in the cave for too long," Airi said.

So, it's fine for me to stay in the cave longer?

Anyway, after having a brief moment of enjoying the fresh air outside, Nishikawa and I went inside the cave of Mount Moon once again.

,

We looked around at the area where the Onix appeared, but couldn't seem to find a thing other than rocks.

"Maybe it fell down to the tunnel?" I said while searching around.

A small rock then flew towards me, and hit the back of my head.

"Why did you do that!?" I rubbed the spot that was hit by the small rock. Even if it wasn't painful, I still felt the impact.

"Don't say things like that! If we couldn't find it here, you'll have to jump in that tunnel!" She shouted.

She must be joking...I wouldn't do that. It's none of my business that she had lost her pokéball in the first place. I just did this so that the matter wouldn't get any bigger.

I looked around, hoping that it didn't fell into the tunnel, and at the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of something. After getting a better look, I found it. It was a pokéball, and it was probably Nishikawa's.

"I might have found it."

I approached the ball and picked it up carefully as it was near a kind of 'cliff'. Well, actually, there was something like a gap, separating parts of the cave. I have to be careful not to let the ball, and myself, to fall in there as I didn't have any idea which part of the cave might I end up in if I did fall inside.

Nishikawa soon walked towards me to get her pokéball, but she stumbled upon an unnoticed rock and

"Hyah!" She shrieked a bit, and lost her balance, causing her to fall in my direction.

She knocked me down accidentally because of the trip, and as I was falling down, I realized that the ground was far below me.

"Geh!?"

I tried to regain my balance, but I was too late. I couldn't recover my footing nor hold onto something to prevent me from falling.

"Uwaaa!" I screamed as I fell down in fear of dying from the impact or crash onto a large boulder.

As I fell down, I couldn't see Nishikawa clearly. She probably fell down onto the ground, causing her couldn't be seen from the angle I was in.

I thought of calling out a Pokémon, but I didn't think that I could do that in the situation that I was in at the moment. The distance was a bit too far to be able to hold onto something, hence, I could only fall.

Then, I fell onto the ground. It was painful, but I was still conscious, and a sense of relief came to me at that moment as I knew that I was alive.

However, the impact made me tumble, and I could catch a glimpse of where I was tumbling onto. Another free fall was going to happen if I didn't do anything. Just as when I was about to fell down, I stretched out my hand out of reflex and managed to grab the edge of the 'cliff'.

"_Now I just need to pull my self back up," _I thought.

I was still holding Nishikawa's pokéball at the time, and I stretched that hand of mine , pulled myself up with all my strength, and just when I had one foot on the ground, I slipped.

"What the-" I was frustrated. Why was I so unlucky? Or was it because I didn't have any skill nor enough strength?

I fell once again, and I thought, I was done for.

My right foot touched the ground, but it was not a smooth landing. It was then followed by me knees, and I fell by the side.

It wasn't a lengthy fall, but not a short one either. At least I managed to stay alive.

I tried standing up, but just when I was about to stand, my right leg lost its strength, and I fell down on my knees.

Then, I could feel someone supporting me by his shoulders, as I turned my head, I saw Pewter City's Gym Leader.

,

"So, how did you fall down?" Takeshi-san asked.

"Umm...It's kind of a ridiculous story," I looked away from him.

Takeshi-san wrapped a compression wrap around my right ankle earlier, so I was feeling a bit better.

"Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Takeshi-san?" I asked.

Takeshi-san took a piece of...boulder? out of his bag and said, "Digging for fossils."

"Fossils?" I took a closer look at the 'boulder', and I could see a spiral shell on it.

"This is the Helix fossil," Takeshi-san said before putting it back.

I remembered that the woman back at Pewter City once said that Takeshi-san went to Mount Moon to dig for fossils sometimes.

Fossil digging could bear some risks, so no wonder he had a variety of things prepared.

"Do you like fossils?" I asked out of curiosity. Though it's obvious he did like them. If he didn't he wouldn't have gone all the way to search for them.

Takeshi-san smiled, "Of course. Searching for prehistoric Pokémon has its own fun, other than being beneficial for studies."

"Studies?"

"Yes, fossils found can be studied at the Pokémon Lab on Cinnabar Island, or exhibited at the Pewter Museum of Science," Takeshi-san said, "at the Pokémon Lab, fossilized Pokémon can be turned back to how they were before."

"Eh? You mean, like bringing them back to life?" I was amused to hear the information.

"Yes, though there might be some differences compared to their original looks, but you could say that they are pretty close."

What technology this world had...

"I find learning a bit of these ancient Pokémon interesting, and finding them too, is really satisfying, He said.

" I see."

"By the way, you must be heading towards Cerulean City, right?" Takeshi-san looked towards me.

"Cerulean City?" I was confused, again.

"It's where the second gym is located. Oh, where are your companions?" He asked, having remembered that I wasn't alone that time during the gym battle.

"Well, I assume they are outside the cave. Due to several circumstances, I had to go back after we finally got out of the cave, and I fell down for some reason." I explained things as briefly as possible, though they were definitely not really clear.

" There should be a way to get out from this par of the cave, right?" I inquired.

"Hm?" Takeshi-san then opened his mouth, "There is, I could show you the way out if you want."

"Certainly! Thank you very much!" I bowed without sparing any moment of thought.

I could walk now, thought it still hurt a bit.

I walked along Takeshi-san as he led the way out of the cave. Apparently, this part of the cave was darker than the areas that we were in earlier, so we had to use flashlights. Though it was not pitch black.

"May I ask you something, Hiro-kun?" Takeshi said as the light of the flashlight he was holding illuminates our path.

"What is it?"

"What do you view Pokémon as?" He questioned something I didn't expect.

Something to protect us from the threats in this world.

Something we need in order to survive in this world.

Something that we were unfamiliar with.

Something weird, something extraordinary.

Creatures that were not from our world.

Those were the thoughts that crossed my mind after hearing Takeshi-san's question.

While we might have seemed to be having a fun time, the thought that those creatures had the ability to eradicate us never went away from my mind. The Onix incident from earlier made me remember the tremendous strength it possessed, and there are more of those creatures.

Even though the trainers that we have fought until now didn't cause any injuries to the fellow trainers, there was still the possibility of injuries, and there was one organization that would not hesitate to cause pain, and even worse...deaths.

I tried not to think too much of these things, but that question reminded me of these thoughts.

And there's no way that I would answer his question based on those thoughts of mine.

So, for now, my answer is...

"The supporters of our lives."

,

After moments of walking, we finally saw another way out of the cave.

We then got out of the cave, and I saw the three girls in the distance. Though they didn't seem to notice Takeshi-san and myself.

"I shall go back to the site then, I still have some diggings to do," Takeshi-san said.

"Ah, yes, thank you very much!" I said in gratitude.

"No problem," He smiled and went back inside the cave.

I walked towards their direction, and halfway, I could see that they had noticed me.

Rei then dashed towards me, and-

"Waaah! Big brother!" She hugged me while bursting out of tears.

"Glad to see you back in one piece," Airi said with a grin, "What exactly happened?"

"Well, it's quite troublesome to explain, actually..."

I was still covered in a bit of light bruises, and Airi seemed to have noticed.

"I'm sure it was not a comfortable experience, huh..." She said.

"I-I'll treat you right away!" Rei said as she released me.

"There's no need, Takeshi-san did it earlier," I stopped her.

"Eh? Takeshi-san did?" Airi said with a surprised expression, though it didn't last for long.

"Ah, you must have met him while he was digging for fossils," She figured it out right away, "You sure caused us to worry there."

Though the way she talked didn't indicate that she had been worrying about me...

"We looked around the cave, but we couldn't figure out a path that connects to the part that you were in as we had no idea where it leads to," She added, "So we had no choice but to wait for a while. Though, Rei even said that she would look for you no matter what it takes and jump in if she needs to."

"Wha-" I responded instantly after hearing the last part, but was interrupted.

"We stopped her, of course."

Still, she was so reckless...

"How could you think of such a thing!?" I said to my little sister.

"But I was worried that...that..." She couldn't manage to continue, and looked about to cry once again.

I didn't say anything for several seconds, and then I hugged her back, "I'm sorry. I promise that this will never happen again."

"Mm," She simply nodded without saying anything further, and a few drops of tear fell down her cheeks.

Nishikawa stood beside Airi, and was quiet the entire time.

"Here," I handed her the pokéball that I had been holding, "Be sure not to drop it again."

She looked at me without saying anything, as if dumbfounded.

"S-s-so-so-sor" She stuttered, and her tone changed to the one that was about to sob.

"It's fine, and why does it looks like you are about to tear up?"

"I-I'm not!" She then turned away from me.

"-nk you."

"Eh?" I could hear her saying something, "What did you say?"

"N-Nothing! I didn't say anything!" She rubbed her eyes, maybe... and shouted without turning back.

What a weird girl...

,

"So, will you also go to Cerulean City, Izumi-san?" Airi said.

"Yes."

"Then, when do you plan to challenge the gym?" Airi followed with a question.

"Tomorrow, I guess...what about it?"

"Why don't we all stick together until then? It will be fun!"

"Eeh!? W-Why should I do that!?"

"Come on! Wandering in the city alone seems lonely, don't you think?" Airi stated.

"But.."

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," I interrupted their conversation.

"I-It's not like I don't want to or anything, but..." She seemed to be struggling for some reason. Is it that difficult to simply agree or disagree with the idea?

"I also think that it would be better to stay together, Izumi-san!" Rei said in a cheerful tone.

"T-Then...I guess it couldn't be helped..." She said, "D-Don't misunderstand! I'm only staying until tomorrow!'

Well, I'm not particularly concerned about the duration anyway.

"Awesome!" Airi said happily, "Then, next destination, Cerulean City!"

I could still had a little bit of 'casual' and 'fun' moments after that...Though I still had no idea of the events that would unfold in our journey.

* * *

That's it for chapter seven! Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading! Please tell me your opinions regarding the chapter and stay tuned for the next update :D


End file.
